A shepherd’s tip-off has led to the discovery of 800-year-old Buddhist murals in a cave complex hidden behind a wall of snow.

The herder told a team of archaeologists, mountaineers and art experts from Nepal, America and Italy that he had seen a cave covered in old paintings when he sheltered from rain several years ago.

The explorers spent three weeks roaming the mountainous region of Mustang, a semi-autonomous kingdom on the Tibetan border that restricts the number of foreign visitors to preserve its distinct culture.

They found the murals in March on a cliffside above Lo Manthang, the medieval walled capital of Mustang, after using ropes to climb up to the cave and ice axes to hack through the snow blocking its entrance.

The paintings, which depict Buddha’s life, consist of one mural about 25 ft (7.5m) wide and 55 panels measuring about 14 in x 17 in. They are believed to date back to the 12th century and are among the most exciting discoveries of Buddhist art in recent years.

The team also found manuscripts executed in ink, silver and gold and shards of pre-Christian pottery in the caves, which may have been used as burial chambers.

The explorers say that they plan to excavate, collect and catalogue the manuscripts, which will be photographed and translated to try to ascertain their origins. But they have refused to reveal the precise location of the caves to prevent other foreigners or local people from damaging the treasure trove.

The artefacts appear to have survived intact because of their inaccessible location, the harsh climate and the tiny, 7,000 population of Mustang.

Mustang is the site of the Buddhist kingdom of Lo, which was founded in 1380 by a warrior named Ame Pal and became a key trade and pilgrimage route between Nepal and Tibet. It enjoyed de facto independence until the previous King asked the Government of Nepal for protection after Communist Chinese troops occupied Tibet in 1950.

In the 1960s King Jigme Palbar Bista, the current monarch, allowed Tibetan Khampa warriors, trained and supplied by the CIA, to use Mustang as a base for attacks on Chinese troops in Tibet. Foreigners were not allowed to visit until 1992, and still today access is limited to 1,000 visitors a year, each paying £380 for a ten-day permit.

The team of explorers included Peter Athens, an American mountaineer who has scaled Everest seven times, Renan Ozturk, an American film-maker, two Nepalese archaeologists and Luigi Fieni, an Italian art expert who helped to restore the Sistine Chapel and has also been restoring Buddhist murals in Lo Manthang.

7th century
Buddhism reaches northern Nepal, over a millennium after it was founded

Times Recommends

• Violent video games won’t corrupt
• Pope Benedict XVI: Alma Mater
• Chávez should know what’s good for him