Gyantse Kunbum

The Kunbum. "The stupa was 4 floors high and was surmounted by a gold dome that rose like a crown over 4 sets of eyes that gazed serenely out in the cardinal directions of the compass."

 

Note the motifs on the eaves of the tiled roof. The cicular structure is the mandala and the row of sanskrit wrting say, "Om mani padmi hum"

"On each level were rooms that open into tiny chambers that house dieties from all facets of Tibetan Buddhist folklore and beliefs. The interior walls were usually lined with thousands of bodhisattvas or life-sized big toothy, goggling demons that Tibetans see as protectors."

1