Wache Stupa Grove, Located in Wache Township, Hongyuan County, Aba Tibetan and Qiang Prefecture, this place is a T-shaped intersection with an elevation of 3,480 meters. It is 60 kilometers south of the First Bend of the Yellow River, 42 kilometers north of Hongyuan County seat, approximately 40 kilometers south of the Jiuqu First Bend of the Yellow River, and 150 kilometers east of Chuanzhusi in Songpan County.
In the Tibetan language, “Wache Stupa Grove” means “big tent.” This site is home to Wache Stupa Grove, a place commemorating the 10th Panchen Lama’s sutra recitations and prayers for blessings. The talin (stupa grove) features the largest cluster of white stupas in northwestern Sichuan, with 108 white stupas as its centerpiece. Surrounding the stupa forest is a vast expanse of continuous prayer flags, creating a truly magnificent sight.
According to traditional Tibetan geomancy, the Gaqu River flows from west to east around Wache Stupa Grove, naturally forming a crescent-shaped river bend. This is believed to endow the area with exceptional auspicious energy, making it a feng shui treasure land for gathering blessings and wealth.
This location also serves as a memorial site for the 10th Panchen Lama’s sutra recitations and prayers.
Overview of Wache Stupa Grove
Upon entering Wache Township in Hongyuan County, Sichuan Province, you are greeted by sprawling stupa forests and prayer flags. Local residents built the stupa forest and surrounding white stupas at the site where the 10th Panchen Lama delivered his teachings. The area is adorned with continuous prayer flags hung by devout Tibetans, presenting a breathtaking spectacle.
On both sides of the dirt road stretch vast fields of prayer flags, each tall flagpole resembling a giant umbrella canopy. Stepping into the prayer flag clusters, long strands of flags encircle a central towering pole, forming circular arrays. Each prayer flag formation looks like a colorful tent. Though faded over time, losing their original vibrancy, the scene remains awe-inspiring.
Within this 30-mu (approximately 2-hectare) area, there is an auditory sensation of “silence filled with whispers.” Multicolored prayer flags flutter and sway between the earth and the sky, reciting Buddhist scriptures with the wind, narrating them over and over. The soft murmurs carry the people’s prayers for blessings and disaster relief.
The 108 stupas here encapsulate the earthly struggles and ultimate fulfillment of Shakyamuni Buddha. They remind us that even the Buddha stumbled and faltered on his path to enlightenment, experiencing a life interwoven with light and shadow. A profound feeling of “seeing the heavens, seeing the Buddha, seeing all beings, and seeing oneself” arises naturally.
Moreover, to pray for peace and to liberate the souls of the departed, the faithful have erected numerous prayer flag tents (formed by layering prayer flags around a central wooden pole, resembling a tent). This is the largest cluster of prayer flag tents in the Tibetan regions of Sichuan Province.
The area also contains a wealth of stone-carved scriptures, including the Six-Word Mantra, Guru Rinpoche’s secret incantations, the Liberation Sutra, and the Hundred-Word Sutra, among others. There are over 30,000 inscribed stones, more than 100 stone scripture piles, 126 rooms storing small molded clay Buddha statues (tsatsa), 387 prayer flag tents, 312 stupas, and over 400 prayer wheels.
The 108 Stupas of Wache Stupa Grove
In 1982 and 1986, the 10th Panchen Lama visited Wache twice, imparting the esoteric teachings of Buddhist sutras and expounding the “Great Law of Virtuous Conduct.”
In 1982, during the 10th Panchen Lama’s inspection of Hongyuan County, devotees erected a towering throne symbolizing the Fearless Great Sovereign of Liberation, along with a sangha platform (a consecrated incense-burning altar) adorned with symbolic lines representing the four activities of pacification, increase, attraction, and subjugation. With utmost devotion and according to the highest traditional Tibetan etiquette, they welcomed the Panchen Lama on horseback, conducting rituals steeped in the solemnity and grandeur of Tibetan Buddhism.
Thereafter, to commemorate the Panchen Lama, the faithful constructed a memorial hall at the site. Initially, they placed a life-sized statue of the master on the throne where he had sat, enshrined it within a hall, and surrounded it with 64 stupas (eight times eight). Over the years, more stupas were added, their numbers steadily increasing, until the site became the largest stupa forest in the Tibetan regions of northwestern Sichuan.
In 1989, after the 10th Panchen Lama’s passing, the devotees of Wache built these 108 stupas at the location he had visited, as a tribute to this religious leader.
The significance of the number 108 has various interpretations.
One theory links it to Vairocana, mentioned in the Buddhist tantric text The Vajra Necklace Sutra, where Vairocana’s 108 manifestations are described. Vairocana, meaning “Great Sun Tathagata” in Sanskrit, is one of Shakyamuni Buddha’s titles. The light of reason and wisdom brought by the Great Sun Tathagata is eternal, dispelling all darkness and benefiting the world.
Another explanation relates to Buddhism’s classification of human afflictions into 108 types. To eliminate these afflictions, practitioners are prescribed to use a 108-bead mala, strike bells or drums 108 times, and recite sutras 108 times. By extension, building 108 stupas—akin to a superior mala composed of 108 beads—symbolizes the removal of these afflictions.
Types of Stupas
Buddhist architecture always carries a foundational intent. Grand narration is an inherent trait of Tibetan faith.
At the entrance to Wache Stupa Grove stands a pyramid-shaped main stupa, composed of numerous resplendent golden smaller stupas. These encompass the eight traditional styles of Tibetan Buddhist stupas, each representing a distinct phase of Shakyamuni Buddha’s life and his karmic connection to the Dharma.
- Lotus Stupa: Commemorates Shakyamuni Buddha’s birth, when he could walk immediately upon touching the ground, with a lotus flower blooming beneath each step.
- Bodhi Stupa: Honors Shakyamuni’s enlightenment at age 35, when he sat facing east under the Bodhi tree at the Vajra Seat in India, meditating intensely for seven days and nights until achieving Buddhahood.
- Auspicious Stupa: Marks the 49 days after his enlightenment when Shakyamuni first taught the Dharma and turned the Wheel of the Law.
- Descent-from-Heaven Stupa: Recalls Shakyamuni at age 41, descending to earth after preaching to his mother in the heavenly realm.
- Miraculous Transformation Stupa: Commemorates Shakyamuni at age 57, subduing attacks from heretics and leading them to take refuge in the Buddha’s teachings.
- Reconciliation Stupa: Celebrates Shakyamuni persuading monks who had formed a separate faction to reconcile and return to the Buddhist community.
- Victory Stupa: Honors Shakyamuni’s agreement to extend his life by three months.
- Nirvana Stupa: Memorializes Shakyamuni’s passing into Nirvana at age 80.
These eight stupa styles can be distinguished by their structures rising from square bases: some have three or four tiers, others feature lotus or leaf motifs, and they may be quadrilateral, octagonal, cylindrical, or stepped.
Prayer Flags
Prayer flags are a ubiquitous totem in Tibetan regions. They are pieces of cloth or hemp fabric inscribed with scriptures, then placed atop mountains, at road intersections, or along riverbanks. Their purpose is to harness the forces of nature to recite the scriptures, ensuring peace and auspiciousness.
The way prayer flags are set up varies across Tibetan areas. In Wache, Hongyuan, they are arranged to encircle a structure resembling a domed tent, and the vast expanse of the Wache prayer flag cluster is a rare sight even among Tibetan regions.
The prayer flags at Wache mostly take the form of “big tents.” Here, a variety of prayer flags from across the Tibetan lands converge.
In terms of content, they include scriptural mantras, pictorial designs, and blank ones without text. In terms of form, there are umbrella-shaped pagoda styles, banner styles, prayer flag trees, and pole styles. In terms of color, they feature blue, white, red, green, and yellow. In terms of production, they range from carved templates, inked designs, to printed versions—diverse and manifold.
Though weathered by sun, rain, wind, and dust, the prayer flags of Wache have lost their original luster, appearing faded or even tattered. Yet their spiritual essence remains undiminished, exuding a profound sense of historical vicissitude. Under the glow of the setting sun, they seem to whisper divine words that permeate the surroundings.
Prayer flags, hung horizontally or vertically depending on the terrain, flutter boldly in the wind. Adorned with straight lines, wavy patterns, and spiraling script, the flags are recited by the wind to the ears of the Buddha, who, in turn, guides us—adrift and bewildered—toward the origins and destinations of life.
The prayer flags of Wache form a belief system that is “scattered in form yet united in spirit.” They inspire the intangible soul to revere, defend, and uphold them. Through this outward expression, their inner realm becomes vast and boundless.
With an air of unshakable calm and transcendence, these prayer flags establish a symmetrical, steady, and enduring order in both mind and emotion, bringing people peace, relief, or inspiration.
Adjacent to the prayer flag cluster lies a field of white stupas and prayer wheels, where Tibetan locals often circumambulate the stupas and turn the wheels in devotion.
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