Study of the cult of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara in Mang-yul sKyid-grong in south-western Tibet based on the pilgrimage guidebook written by Brag-dkar rta-so sPrul-sku Chos-kyi dbang-phyug (1775-1837). In addition to the annotated translation of this manuscript work a critical edition of two xylographs of the 16th century is presented; they can be identified as the oldest pilgrimage guidebooks from Tibet preserved in the medium of printed text. It is thus possible to illuminate the religious geography of a region which took a prominent place in the cultural memory of the Tibetan people. The literary sources made for the first time available for Tibetan studies and related disciplines contain also praises for the statue of the Ārya Va-ti bzang-po written by different members of the incarnation lineage of the Dalai Lamas.