The nameplate of the new Lamasery "Sukola" in Four Girls Mountains.
The Sukola is another name of the Four Girls Mountains (Sigunianshan). There is a mysterious bird with a snake in its mouth towards a bottom. It is the symbol of the regal power in ancient Tibetan region.

Note : The origin of the name of Four Girls Mountains
The name of Four Girls Mountains comes from original Tibetan name "sukolagidda" (phonetic notation is not strict). It means the mountain god who protects this local area, where called "rGyal-rong" or "rGyalmorong" or the Queen Valley. It is a generic name, but not a proper noun. It dose not have the meaning of the four girls or the four sisters. "The Four Girls Mountains" is the name what the Chinese created and recorded by the following process in the old times.
a. Consider what this mountain has four remarkabl peaks. Chinese pronunciation of four is near "su" in Sichuan Province, and phonetic notation is "si".
b. Guesses the Chinese characters "sigu" which look like the pronunciation of the Tibetan name"suko".
c. Chinese phonetic notation "gu" is pronunced near "ko".
d. Chinese phonetic notation of mothers-in-law is "gu", and single woman (girl) is "gu-niang". The Chinese prefered girl to mothers-in-law.
In this local area, the Tibetan and the Chinese are interchanging from the old times. As a result, most Tibetans forgets original Tibetan name or it's meaning, and Chinese name or it's meaning is in use. At present, only a few Tibetan like a high-ranking priest hand down this process and the meaning of "sukolagidda".

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Produced by Kenzo Okawa
Particular adviser of Four Girls Mountains Nature Reserve Management Bureau