Valley of the Kings (Tibet)
Riwo Dechen monastery, Qonggyai, near the Valley of Kings | |
| Alternative name | Chongye Valley |
|---|---|
| Location | Qonggyai County, Shannan, Tibet,China |
| Coordinates | 29°0′36″N 91°40′48″E / 29.01000°N 91.68000°E |
| Type | valley |
| History | |
| Cultures | Tibetan Empire |
The Valley of the Kings (Tibetan: བོད་རྗེ་པང་སོ, Wylie: bod rje bang so) or Chongye Valley branches off the Yarlung Valley to the southwest and contains a series of graveyard tumuli, approximately 27 kilometres (17 mi) south of Tsetang, Tibet, near the town of Qonggyai on Mure Mountain in Qonggyai County of the Shannan Prefecture.
The site has eight large mounds of earth resembling natural hills that are believed to contain eight to ten buried Tibetan kings.
"According to Tibetan tradition all the kings from Dri-gum onwards are buried at ‘Phyong-rgyas, but as the site now presents itself, there are just ten tumuli identifiable as the tombs of all the kings from Srong-brtsan-sgam-po to Khri-lde-srong-brtsan, including two princes . . . ."
Other sources, however, have indicated that there are actually nine mounds rather than eight or ten. The kings believed to be buried at the site include Songtsen Gampo (the founder of the Tibetan Empire), Mangsong Mangtsen, Tridu Songtsen, Gyangtsa Laban, Tride Tsuktsen, Trisong Detsen, Mune Tsenpo and Tritsu Detsen.