Himalayan Art Resources

Important Site Address Change

2009-12-06T23:32:00.002-05:00

Please change your link or bookmark to the new Himalayan Art Resources News Page (http://www.himalayanart.org/news/). This HAR Google Blog site is no longer being supported because it cannot be accessed in all parts of the world.

Secrets of Shangri-La: Quest for Sacred Caves

2009-11-16T22:01:00.005-05:00

If you have access to North American Television please tune in to PBS, November 18th, 8:00 p.m., to watch the National Geographic Special, Secrets of Shangri-La.

In the summer of 2008, Jeff Watt, Director and Chief Curator of Himalayan Art Resources, spent a month in the Mustang Region of Nepal with a National Geographic sponsored film crew to investigate previously inaccessible caves filled with ancient artifacts, texts, and Buddhist and Bon cave murals. The cave murals were primarily Buddhist in origin and span the 14th to 16th centuries.

In one cave complex called Mardzong, just south of the town of Lo Monthang, a stash of 14th and 15th century manuscripts were discovered in the upper chambers; after collating, amounting to thirty large Tibetan volumes. Predominantly belonging to the Bon religion, the remaining texts were Buddhist and many of them relating to the Sakya system of Lamdre (the Path Together with the Result).

Mustang is one of the last remaining Buddhist Kingdoms in the world, although also containing a smattering of Bon communities. Two of the main temples in the capital walled town of Lo Monthang, in Upper Mustang, are a treasure of murals in the tradition of the great Tibetan murals of Gyantse, Shalu and Sakya. For Sakya Art History, Lo Monthang is equally important for the study of mandalas and the Tantric systems of Maha Vairochana and Sarvavid Vairochana, along with the visual culture of other Yoga Tantra systems.

Secrets of Shangri-La: Quest for Sacred Caves

"Tune in to PBS November 18th, 8:00 p.m., to watch the National Geographic Special, Secrets of Shangri-La (http://www.pbs.org/secretsofshangrila/). To see a trailer for the program, go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRLyJbt6wvs."

“DESIRE. DESTRUCTION. TRANSCENDENCE.”

2009-11-04T15:44:00.008-05:00

The Walters Art Museum presents the contemporary works of Amita Bhatt in dialog with tantric art from the John and Berthe Ford Collection.

The Walters Art Museum is proud to present selected works from the John and Berthe Ford collection of traditional Indian and Himalayan art in visual dialogue with contemporary paintings by India born artist, Amita Bhatt. Bhatt derives her imagery from Hindu and Buddhist Tantric sources infused with her understanding of Western philosophy. She explores classic themes of desire, conflict, struggle and transcendence as they manifest themselves in the present day. This thought provoking installation recognizes the power of visual expressions to articulate, to mobilize, to activate, and to provoke. Informed by tradition but speaking in the present, Bhatt’s works explore fundamental struggles and eternal tensions common to all cultures. The show will run from October 31st through December 13th, 2009.

Walters Art Museum, 600 N Charles St.,
Baltimore, Maryland 21201
Phone: 410-547-9000 Email: info@thewalters.org

The Chinese Government & Google Blogs

2009-10-30T03:36:00.003-04:00

The Chinese Government and Google have a dispute over which news feeds Google provides over its internet Blog service. Subsequently Google Blogs, which the HAR website uses, are blocked in China.

There are too many people in China using the HAR site to have it hobbled by international politics. The HAR team has already come up with some ideas for changing the blog. One suggestion was to move to a Coldfusion blog application, completely stable and free. The only problem is we have to implement it. It is not exactly right out of the box. We will look at several different options before deciding on a remedy. This blog accessibility problem will be a priority for the next few weeks.

Wutaishan Mountain: Unidentified Manjushri Forms

2009-10-30T03:14:00.006-04:00

There are two examples given below of unidentified forms of Manjushri. These are only two of many unidentified forms found on Wutaishan Mountain.

The first found in the Golden Temple, frequented by Chogyal Pagpa in the 13th century, has one face and two hands and rides atop a lion. What is unique about the form is the right hand holding an utpala stem and the left extended across the left knee with the left leg pendant.

The second form, found in a building in front and below the Golden Temple, is a very large sculpture with eleven faces and one thousand hands, seated in a Western style atop a lion. Is there a Sanskrit or a Tibetan source text for these two unique forms of Manjushri? Are the forms possibly of a Chinese origin and inspiration?

A Rare Form of Padmasambhava

2009-10-23T19:11:00.015-04:00

Padmasambhava as Guru Dupung Zilnon (gu ru bdud dpung zil gnon) is possibly related to the Vajrakilaya practices of Longchenpa called Purba Dupung Zilnon (phurba bdud dpung zil gnon). Note the unique form of the posture with the right hand holding a vajra extended outward to the side in a gesture of blessing above the heads of demons. The left hand holds a purba peg extended outward to the side and pointing downward subduing the demons below.

This extremely fine painting can be dated stylistically to the early 19th century and created in a Kham-dri style similar to the Khampa Gar painters of that time. It is not clear from the inscription on the back of the brocade (top), or the iconographic subject on the front, if the painting is a single composition or part of a related series (set) of paintings. Although one other painting with a different iconographic subject but the same stylistic elements, brush strokes and colour palette has been identified.

Milarepa Life Story Paintings

2009-10-23T11:02:00.009-04:00

Two more Milarepa life story paintings have come to light. These two paintings belong to the same set as HAR #66417 and are part of a nineteen painting set. The composition of these paintings is also the same as the famous Stockholm nineteen painting set. The two new images will be uploaded to the HAR site in the near future along with detail images of the inscriptions.

Milarepa: Another Image

2009-10-22T09:38:00.003-04:00

The image here is a detail from a Drugpa Kagyu composition with Naropa as the large central figure and Marpa Chokyi Lodro in front. To the right side is a very small figure of Milarepa seated on a deerskin appearing to float on the water.

What is interesting about the form is the over-all relaxed posture, white clothing wrapped fully around the body and the right knee slightly raised with feet visible.

Is this Milarepa depiction related to, or derivative of, the Milarepa forms posted in previous news entries?

See the Two Previous Posts:
- Four Milarepa Paintings
- Four Milarepa Paintings and One Sculpture

Densatil Sculpture and the Capital Museum, Beijing, China

2009-10-22T09:08:00.009-04:00

The Capital Museum houses one of the best collections of Densatil sculptures available. Densatil sculptures originate generally from the Densatil Monastery (or surrounding monasteries where the artists also worked) founded by Pagmodrupa Dorje Gyalpo, one of the four principal students of Gampopa, in turn the student of Milarepa. Many of these sculptures, now in museums spread around the world, were used to decorate the stupa, or reliquary, containing the mortal remains of Pagmodrupa.

Densatil Resources:
Capital Museum, Beijing, China - website
Capital Museum sculpture on the HAR site
Densatil Page, HAR site
Beijing Quick Guide Outline

Golden Buddhas from Tibet, Reconstruction of the Façade of a Stupa from Densathil
History of the Drigung Kagyu with reference to Densatil

Densatil Images:
Images 1
Images 2
Images 3
Images 4

Exhibition: The Path of Buddha

2009-10-20T08:41:00.006-04:00

The Path of Buddha: Tokyo National Museum, Friday, July 27, 2007 - Tuesday, November 3, 2009

"This display traces the development of Buddhist statues from Gandhara (Ancient India), China, the Korean Peninsula, and Japan to provide insights about how Buddhist beliefs and statues developed in each region.

Buddhism is a religion based on the teachings, known as dharma, of Prince Siddhartha Gautama, who lived in India around the 5th century B.C. He attained "Enlightenment" and became Shakyamuni Buddha when he was 35, and spent the rest of his life teaching his insights to others. After his death, his followers continued to practice and spread his teachings. Following his cremation, the Buddha's ashes and relics, known as sharira, were deposited in stupas, originally mound-like structures. Buddhist art developed when stupas were decorated with reliefs that depicted stories of Buddha and other designs.

Initially, Buddha was not presented as a human figure. This changed around the 1st century A.D. and Buddhists began to worship the statues. Over time, Buddhism spread to other areas, where statues were crafted and worshiped in various forms." (Text from Tokyo National Museum website).

Forms of Arapachana Manjushri

2009-10-12T22:54:00.003-04:00

There are four basic forms of Manjushri that are either called Arapachana by name or use the Arapachana syllables as the principal mantra for the deity. The first (1) is Arapachana, orange in colour, sometimes white. He holds a sword in the right hand and the stem of an utpala flower supporting the Prajnaparamita text in the left. The second (2) form is Manjushri associated with a famous Sanskrit praise, orange in colour. The third (3) form is Arapachana, white in colour, sometimes orange, with the two hands holding the stems of two utpala flowers supporting a sword and text. The fourth (4), Vidyadhara Pitika (not shown here), is similar to the second form except white in colour and with the left leg pendant.

All forms of Arapachana Manjushri are peaceful in appearance. There are also many other forms of Manjushri that are peaceful but do not use the Name Arapachana or the arapachana mantra. Also, not all forms of Manjushri are peaceful. The principal examples of semi-wrathful and wrathful appearance are Black Manjushri as semi and then the many forms of Vajrabhairava, Krishna Yamari, Rakta Yamari and Manjushri Nagaraksha.

On the illustrated example page provided above there are four additional images of Manjushri related to Arapachana. These are found on a mandala painting of Vagishvari Dharmadhatu. The painting depicts twenty-three peaceful forms of Manjushri, three wrathful forms known as Yamari, and three mandalas in total.

Daewon-Sa Tibetan Museum in Korea

2009-10-11T11:51:00.011-04:00

The HAR site lists three museums in Korea that have collections of Himalayan and Tibetan style art. Several of these museums such as the Daewon-Sa and the Hahn Cultural Foundation specialize in Himalayan style art. It is rumoured that there are possibly an additional two more museums of Himalayan art in Korea. These other museums, like the one introduced here, are thought to be museums attached to Buddhist Temples, unlike the Hahn Collection or the National Museum of Korea.

"The Little Tibet in Korea, Daewon-Sa Tibetan Museum. Tibetan Museum is built to introduce spiritual culture and art and to activate the spiritual exchange between Korea and Tibet. The museum is built in the Tibetan Temple style." www.tibetan-museum.org.

See a listing of other Korean and Asian Museums.

Four Traditional Ways of Classifying the Schools of Tibetan Buddhism

2009-10-07T20:05:00.033-04:00

The religious traditions, schools and lineages of Tibetan Buddhism can be very confusing with a seemingly endless number of Tibetan names and complex inter-relationships. The new page outlining the Four Traditional Ways of Classifying the Schools of Tibetan Buddhism lists the four systems and the traditions, or sub-traditions, included in each. Other Buddhist traditions such as Mongolian Buddhism and the Himalayan Buddhism of Bhutan are also included on the page but separate from the four traditional forms of classification. More sub-traditions will be added, along with dates, and links to the available art on the HAR site.

1. Nyingma & Sarma: Nyingma means old or ancient. Sarma means new. The earliest forms of Buddhism in Tibet are collectively known as Nyingma. With the introduction of new forms of Buddhism from India and Kashmir after the 11th century the old forms took on the name Nyingma and the new forms were called Sarma. The principal new forms (Sarma) are the Kadampa, Sakya, Dagpo Kagyu, Shangpa Kagyu and Jonang, followed later by the Gelug.

2. The classification of the Four [Principal] Schools of Tibetan Buddhism is the most commonly known and used although probably the least useful in understanding the complexity of the traditions especially in understanding the religious context of the art on the HAR site. The Four Schools are the (1) Nyingma, (2) Sakya, (3) Kagyu and (4) Gelug. The Fifth Dalai Lama in the 17th century is recorded as using this terminology to list the principal Buddhist Traditions of Tibet. He describes them as the four schools of Buddhism [cho lug] and then the Bon Religion [Bon lug]. This written statement of the Fifth Dalai Lama has come to be misconstrued in recent times and taken to mean that there are five schools of Tibetan Buddhism, which are the four principal schools and then Bon as the fifth school. This is rejected by followers of the Bon Religion that maintain there are two religions of Tibet, (1) Bon which came first and (2) Buddhism which came after. For the Bon there is no discussion of five schools - it is a Buddhist imposition.

3. Red Hat & Yellow Hat is a late classification that is most commonly used in Mongolia and China and rarely in Tibet or the Tibetan cultural regions of the Himalayas. Yellow Hat refers specifically to the Gelug School dominant in the two areas of Mongolia and China after the 17th century. Red Hat refers collectively to all of the Buddhist Schools that are not Gelug. Tibetan followers of the Gelug Tradition referred to themselves as the Yellow Hat Tradition, this is found in Tibetan Gelug writings and liturgical verses, but it is unclear when this classification began and when the other non-Gelug traditions became the Red Hat Tradition. According to this system the most important and iconic of the 'Red Hat' Lamas is Padmasambhava. The principal 'Yellow Hat' lama is Je Tsongkapa, founder of the Gelug Tradition.

4. The Eight Chariots of Spiritual Accomplishment is another late classification popularized by Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taye in the 19th century. This system lists what Kongtrul promotes as the most significant practice traditions of Tibetan Buddhism. The system of classification is not widely used or promoted outside of the Rime movement of the 19th century, but it does however give insight into what the Nyingma, Sakya and Kagyu Lamas of the Rime Movement considered to be of significant importance.

The Eight Chariots are:
(1) Nyingma
(2) Kadampa Mind Training Precepts
(3) Margapala (Tibetan: Lamdre. The Path Together with the Result)
(4) Dagpo Kagyu Mahamudra Tradition
(5) Six Dharmas of Niguma
(6) Zhije & Cho
(7) Six Branches, Kalachakra
(8) Orgyan Nyendrub

Religious Traditions Pages & Outlines:
Traditions & Schools Index
Religious Traditions of Tibet Outline
Explanation of Four Traditional Ways of Classifying the Schools of Tibetan Buddhism
Four Traditional Ways of Classifying the Schools of Tibetan Buddhism
Religious Traditions Navigation Page for Outlines

Arhat Resource Page

2009-10-04T16:28:00.011-04:00

Whenever working with arhat paintings or sculpture it is always necessary to refer to a list of names and figural images to help with identification. This can be done in several ways, either by simply referring to a Tibetan text such as the Praise of the Sixteen Arhats where each arhat is named and described, or by looking at a single arhat painting, or set of arhat paintings, where the iconography is clear and the names are written beneath each figure, or to look at a set of block print images that have both the images and names for each of the arhats. These are the general approaches to identifying arhat figures when there are no identifying inscriptions on the works themselves.

I hesitate to mention one other approach, but shall do so anyway. An alternate approach is to have memorized all of the arhat names in both Tibetan and Sanskrit and know all of the depictions and attributes for each of the sixteen arhat figures plus knowing the several different systems, or variations, for visually depicting the arhats. The Arhat Resource Page is not necessary with this approach to identifying arhats.

For basic arhat identification the Arhat Resource Page presents first the individual block print images from the Three Hundred Icons published by Raghu Vira and Lokesh Chandra. These images are especially valuable because they provide both the Tibetan name and the Sanskrit name for each of the arhats. Following these essential tools for the identification of arhats are the important Arhat Pages and topics both on the HAR site and as external resources. Navigation is provided as screen capture images along with links.

Manjushri Outline Page Updated

2009-10-03T17:11:00.002-04:00

The Manjushri Outline page has been updated and split into two pages. The first is now Art Topics and the second is Iconographic Forms of the deity. More work needs to be done. There are so many different types of Manjushri that it is really a major project in itself just to list them all and note the texts and compendiums that they are found in.

Manjushri Art Topics
Manjushri Iconographic Forms
Manjushri Tantra Classes
Arapachana Manjushri: Explanation of Form

Hevajra: Explanation of Form

2009-10-02T23:52:00.004-04:00

Hevajra is one of the more common complex deities depicted in art. The form with eight faces and sixteen hands is the most common form of this deity. However, he can have as few as one face and two hands, hold only weapons and be white, red, yellow or green in colour. Hevajra can also be paired with a consort other than Nairatmya. He can also appear with no consort at all. The forms of Hevajra are described in the Hevajra Tantra of Two Sections (Root Tantra) and the Samputa explanatory Tantra.

Hevajra: Explanation of Form

Kurukulla: Explanation of Form

2009-09-30T01:15:00.005-04:00

Kurukulla is a goddess of power in Tantric Buddhism. She has many different forms, colours and deity affiliations. Her appearance with one face and four hands, red in colour, dancing on a prone male form, is the most common form found in painting, murals and sculpture. In this form her hand attributes can vary slightly but the colour, posture, and number of arms will remain the same.

Kurukulla: Explanation of Form

Arapachana Manjushri: Explanation of Form

2009-09-29T23:58:00.006-04:00

Manjushri in the form of Arapachana is one of the most common and recognizable images in Tantric Buddhism. Other than appearing with the hands in the Dharma teaching gesture this is the form that is most often depicted in paintings, murals and sculpture. The explanation of form is a brief introduction to how Manjushri appears in this particular appearance, what he holds in his hands, along with any other significant characteristics.

Arapachana Manjushri: Explanation of Form

Mahakala Resource Page

2009-09-28T18:30:00.008-04:00

The Mahakala Resource Page is a work in progress. There are just quite simply a lot more types of Mahakala than there are of Shri Devi. Like Shri Devi, Mahakala is a class of deities. Always wrathful, always protectors and sometimes meditational deities of the Anuttarayoga classification. The Mahakala types are aligned much more closely with specific Tantras and major deities such as Hevajra, Chakrasamvara, Guhyasamaja and in the case of Shadbhuja Mahakala with Hayagriva and Avalokiteshvara. It is not a matter of just uploading all the Mahakala information. It is a matter of how to frame it, contextualize it, and present the information in a way that makes sense and includes Mahakala in the greater realm of Himalayan and Tibetan art, literature, religion and culture. We will let you know how it works out.

An Explanation of Iconographic Forms

2009-09-27T21:27:00.012-04:00

An Explanation of Iconographic Forms is a new feature on the website. The purpose is to explain more clearly the iconographic features of the main figures and types of deities, along with the complex multi-headed and multi-armed deities. The intention is to make it easier to read and understand an iconographic form. To that end we hope to provide the necessary tools.

Currently there are five forms explained:
Simhanada Lokeshvara (Lion's Roar Lord of the World)
Ushnishavijaya (The Victorious Crown Ornament)
Nilamabara Vajrapani (Blue Cloak Vajra Holder)
Shakyamuni Buddha (Enlightened One, Sage of the Shakya Clan)
Je Tsongkapa - Founder of the Gelug Tradition

Shri Devi with Three Faces! Sipai Gyalmo?

2009-09-27T12:52:00.058-04:00

Shri Devi with Three Faces! Sipai Gyalmo? An inquiry has been made about an iconographic form of Shri Devi (Palden Lhamo) with three faces. Unfortunately, I don't know of a three faced, six armed, Shri Devi in Tibetan Buddhism. It doesn't mean that there isn't a Shri Devi having this appearance, it just means that this form hasn't been broadly identified in art or in Buddhist textual description, so far. However, the Bon Religion has a wrathful female deity exactly fitting this description - Sipai Gyalmo, Queen of the World.

Shri Devi is a Sanskrit name used by Indian religious traditions and Buddhist Tantric traditions. To my knowledge the Bon Religion does not typically use the Sanskrit name Shri Devi or the corresponding Tibetan name Palden Lhamo.

See the Shri Devi Resource Page
See the Sipai Gyalmo Comparison Page

Well, aside from pouring through endless sets of Nyingma initiation cards (tsakli) looking for a three faced Shri Devi, I can only think of one instance where I've seen a Shri Devi-like figure with three faces on a Buddhist painting. Look to the middle left side of this Buddhist Sidpaho Protection Chart (above). Fortunately I thought it was strange enough when I first chanced upon it to think to take a detail photo of the unusual, at the time, un-Buddhist-like Shri Devi (detail of Shri Devi figure above). You will note that the body, number of faces and colours along with arms and hand attributes are identical to the Bon deity Sipai Gyalmo Dre'u Nag (Riding a Black Mule). I had no explanation for this.

I did go back and look at the painting several times to see if it was in fact Buddhist, and to think about whether or not the Bon had a similar practice of painting sidpaho charts, as if that would help! Possibly it belonged to the Bon Sarma Tradition? Bon Sarma is a branch of Bon that intentionally seeks to blend the practices of the two religions of Bon and Buddhism. However, I can only conclude that the painting is Buddhist.

Looking at the Sidpaho painting and the Shri Devi-like subject more closely, it did seem unusual to have the small buddha-like figure depicted as if hovering above the head. This is a practice sometimes found occurring on Bon paintings especially with the subject of Tagla Membar where a peaceful Tonpa Shenrab is placed hovering directly above the wrathful head of the central figure. It can however be found, although rarely, in Buddhist paintings. See an example of a Drigung Kagyu deity painting of Guru Dragpur, a Nyingma Terma Tradition, where the Buddhas of the Tree Times are placed above three stupas above the three heads of the central deity. What is common with Buddhist iconography is to find the Five Symbolic Buddhas such as Amitabha above the head of Avalokiteshvara, or Akshobhya above the head of Manjushri, or Amoghasiddhi above the head of Green Tara. A figure depicted like the historical Buddha Shakyamuni is not usual, especially when they appear to be floating and detached from the main figure below.

It is possible that the artist commissioned to create the painting belonged to the Bon Religion and inserted a protector deity that he/she was familiar with - just an idea.

So, now it comes down to what do we know?
1. It is possible that there is a Buddhist form, or specifically a Nyingma form, of Shri Devi with three faces and six arms (as pictured above).
2. There does not appear to be any Sarma (Sakya, Kagyu, Jonang, Gelug, etc.) three faced forms of Shri Devi. This statement is entirely based on looking at iconographic images and reading the general iconographic texts and histories of those traditions. However, this could change if new information comes to light.
3. The most important female protector of the Bon Religion has three faces and six arms, riding a mule, in a similar appearance to the Buddhist deity Shri Devi. Of the two principal forms of Sipai Gyalmo, (1) Riding the Black Mule and (2) Riding the Red Mule, the form riding atop the black mule can have slightly different hand attributes depending on the Bon tradition. The primary difference is the third right hand which can hold either a spear or a banner. In the Buddhist painting exhibited above the Shri Devi-like figure holds a banner in the third right hand.

Conclusion: Until more examples of a three faced, six armed Shri Devi like deity are found, along with Buddhist textual descriptions, we must, for the time being, consider that all such forms are most probably the Bon protector deity Sipai Gyalmo.

Jeff Watt
Director & Chief Curator

(The Sipai Gyalmo Comparison Page has also been added to the bottom of the Shri Devi Resource Page for comparison purposes).

E-letter for September 26th, 2009

2009-09-26T16:13:00.005-04:00

Dear Subscribers,

Since the last Newsletter of May-July 2009 there have been some significant improvements made to the Advanced Search feature.

See the New Advanced Search.

Two extensive subject Resource Pages have been added. These pages are intended to group together related information under one heading. This is part of the ongoing HAR struggle to contextualize the art and subject content and to keep it easily retrievable in an ever growing art and iconography database. We hope to add more Resource Pages to help with navigation for other large categories and topics on the site.

Mandala Resource Page | Introduction to Mandalas

Shri Devi Resource Page | Introduction to Shri Devi

Two ongoing projects that only effect the site user when landing on certain pages are the continued use of Greyscaling and the addition of Visual Images of Painting Sets.

The Tibetan yogi and saint Milarepa has been a topic of some interest of late. See three new pages discussing the Milarepa Life-story painting sets, and a Milarepa composition possibly painted by the famous terton of the 19th century - Choggyur Lingpa.

Four Milarepa Paintings | Terton Choggyur Lingpa

Four Milarepa Paintings & One Sculpture | Milarepa in Life Story & Lineage Painting Sets

A Mitra Gyatsa Page has been added along with numerous sub-pages: outline page, contents list, lineages, etc.

The Vajravali Outline Page has been updated with new sub-pages: contents, lineages, etc.

New Outline Pages:
Female Teachers
Yogi Appearance in Himalayan Art
Amoghapasha Lokeshvara
Vajramrita
Yama Dharmaraja Mandala
Yama Dharmaraja Mandala Schematic
Hevajra Mandala Elements
Chakrasamvara Mandala Elements
Yaks & Mandalas
Five Myths About Mandalas
Simhanda Lokeshvara
Magzor Gyalmo
Ekajati (updated with an introduction)
Shri Devi: Forms of the Deity
Shri Devi: Traditions
Shri Devi: Forms Comparison

Aside from these enhancements and additions many new thematic image set pages were created in order to populate and give depth to the outline pages listed above. Cataloguing is always ongoing and continues for the Jacques Marchais Collection, Santa Barbara Museum and the Prague National Gallery. These institutions are at the top of the list with numerous other museum and private collections waiting patiently in the queue.

Thank you for your continued interest.

Jeff Watt
Director & Chief Curator
Himalayan Art Resources

Advanced Search: New & Greatly Improved

2009-09-26T15:51:00.009-04:00

The old Advanced Search was rather static with a query result only serving up a linear text list of either paintings or sculpture. Those days are now over.

The new Advanced Search is programmed to serve up thumbnail images as the default with the old List View as a secondary option. When searching on a specific subject the default is set to display both paintings and sculpture. For even more advanced search queries on topics such as medium or type then both broad categories of paintings and sculpture can be selected individually. The unique options for paintings (for us meaning two-dimensional) such as red background, textiles, etc., can be chosen under the painting category and the same for sculpture when searching on medium, repousse, etc. The HAR Team believes that this is a major enhancement to the site. Please try it out.

See the New Advanced Search.

And with the Keyword Search don't forget that since December of last year the HAR site has been using Google Custom Search. This has also been a huge improvement over the previous search engine technology.

Shri Devi: Palden Lhamo: Glorious Goddess

2009-09-25T02:44:00.028-04:00

From the Shri Devi Resource Page---

Shri Devi is the most important classification of female protector deity in Tantric Tibetan Buddhism. Out of the nearly two dozen textual forms of the goddess there are three principal forms that appear regularly in painting and sculpture. The first and second forms are almost identical. Only the hand attributes distinguish them one from the other. Known as Shri Devi Dudsolma, she has one face and four arms. There is a [1] Sakya version of Dudsolma and a [2] Kagyu version of Dudsolma. The Sakya version holds a sword, skullcup, spear and trident. The Kagyu version holds a sword, skullcup, peg 'kila' and trident. The [3] third form of Shri Devi, most popular in the Gelug Tradition, is known as Magzor Gyalmo and has one face like the previous forms but only two hands. She holds a vajra tipped staff and a skullcup.

Some Tibetan teachers say that there are twenty-one forms of Palden Lhamo (Shri Devi), often including the Bon religious protector Sipai Gyalmo as one of the forms. This is likely a late conflation occurring in the last one hundred years or so, an attempt to organize all of the different forms, along with the major and minor traditions, into a single structured system.

Not all forms of Shri Devi have the same entity or personality. The principal form of the protector, Dudsolma or Dudmo Remati, appearing with one face and four arms, riding a donkey, is a wrathful manifestation of Shri Lakshmi (Pal Lhamo). Principal here means earliest and having the most lineages from India, teachings and commentaries associated with her practice. Magzor Gyalmo with two arms, riding a mule, is a manifestation of Sarasvati. In the Bon Religion Sipai Gyalmo is the wrathful form of Satrig Ersang, one of the four principal deities/gods of the Bon Religion. This shows that the different forms of Shri Devi arise from various narratives, ritual and practice traditions.

The early references and teachings on Shri Devi Dudsolma, or using her full name Dudsol Dokam Wangchugma (Kamadhatv-ishvari) with four arms, are found in detail in two Tantras, the Fifty Chapter Mahakala Tantra and the Twenty-five Chapter Mahakala Tantra. In these texts Shri Devi is closely related to Mahakala, The Great Black One.

The form of Shri Devi known as Magzor Gyalmo, with two arms and riding a mule, has a different history derived from different source literature. In the main text narrating the history of Magzorma, the Dakinyagnijihajvala Tantra, she is described as the servant, or younger sister, of Shri Devi Dudsolma (with four arms and riding a donkey). See the Magzor Gyalmo Introduction and the source literature the Dakinyagnijihajvala Tantra, Dege Kanjur, volume 98, pp.223-253. It is found in the Nyingma Tantra section, vol.3.

Dorje Rabtenma, the special protector of Shalu Monastery in Tsang Province, Tibet, is also a form of Shri Devi: "...Goddess Dorje Rabtenma, Great One, with a body maroon in colour, one face, two hands and three eyes; the body covered by a human skin. Held in the right hand is a blazing sword, a mongoose grasped in the left, riding atop a three-legged mule." (Shalu Liturgical verse by Shakya Gelong Rinchen Namgyal).

The image of Shri Devi Dudsolma pictured above is taken from a photograph of a paper poster acquired in 1973. The poster is believed to have been made in India in the late 1960s or early 70s. There is no information on the poster at all, front or back, no writing and no numbers. If anybody has seen another image like this or knows where this original painting resides then please send an e-mail to us at info@himalayanart.org. Thank you.

Please see the extensive Shri Devi Resource Page

Milarepa in Life Story & Lineage Paintings

2009-09-23T09:35:00.007-04:00

The first composition in the set of the Stockholm Milarepa Life Story paintings depicts him in a relaxed manner similar to what we have seen in the Choggyur Lingpa painting and somewhat in the Choying Dorje sculpture. There are three known sets in this 19th century style and composition, maybe more. The Rumtek Monastery set of the Karma Kagyu Lineage Masters (Kagyu Sertreng) depicts a relaxed Milarepa similar to what we have been looking at in these other paintings. The Rumtek set, a gift of the previous Sanggye Nyenpa Rinpoche, is based on a much earlier version likely to predate Choggyur Lingpa and even Situ Panchen in the 18th century. Looking at these paintings it is interesting to see that the artists have no trouble switching the direction of the seated posture and portraying either the right hand across the knee or the left. Choggyur Lingpa would have been aware of these iconographic depictions of the Kagyu Masters. However, his painting still seems to be the model that the other three are based on with reference to the September 15th posting.

We have posted a new Milarepa comparison page looking at Life Story Paintings and Lineage Paintings:

Milarepa Life Story Painting Set Comparison

Four Milarepa Paintings & One Sculpture (Tuesday, September 22nd)

Four Milarepa Paintings (Tuesday, September 15th)

As to the comment about possible conflation between the relaxed form of Milarepa and the form of Avalokiteshvara known as Resting in the Nature of Mind (Tibetan: spyan ras gzigs sems nyid ngal gso), I have added a new page with examples of this form for comparison.

Four Milarepa Paintings & One Sculpture

2009-09-22T16:10:00.008-04:00

After posting the comparison of the Four Milarepa Paintings last week we heard from a scholar of such subjects and he suggested that there might be a relationship between the four paintings and a well known sculpture carved from rhinoceros horn and said to have been created by Choying Dorje, the 10th Karmapa. The sculpture image is from the publication Karmapa: The Black Hat Lama of Tibet by Nik Douglass.

We have posted a new comparison page also noting the principal characteristics of the paintings and of the sculpture:

Four Milarepa Paintings & One Sculpture

Four Milarepa Paintings (Tuesday September 15th)

Three Paintings: Are they Painted by the Same Artist?

2009-09-22T11:59:00.006-04:00

There is a Maitreya and a Manjushri painting that appear to be from the same set, then an Arhat painting depicting two central figures (this image will be uploaded to the site later today). The two paintings on the left, likely from a set of nine, are the same dimensions, possibly the same Eight Bodhisattva subject, colour palette, etc. The painting on the right with two Arhats, from a set of eleven, is significantly shorter and more traditionally rectangular in shape. Take special notice of the jewelry and ornaments on the figures, also the flowers, leaves, vines and trees. Are these paintings by the same artist, same atelier, or even in the same general style?

Three Paintings: are they painted by the same artist?

Ekajati: Meditational Deity & Protector

2009-09-21T14:16:00.004-04:00

Ekajati is a complex deity of Indian origin that should be understood as functioning as a:
1. Meditational Deity with many different forms.
2. Retinue Figure accompanying popular deities such as Lokeshvara and Tara.
3. Protector Deity, both represented as a central figure and as a retinue deity.

See the Ekajati Main Page and Outline Page.

The name 'eka jati' is a Sanskrit word combined of two parts (Sanskrit: eka = one; jati = braid), one and braid, meaning 'one braid' of hair.

(1) As a Meditational Deity Ekajati has a two-armed form, four-armed, eight-armed and a twenty-four armed and twelve headed form. (2) As a Retinue Figure Ekajati, in a wrathful form, stands behind Lokeshvara in the Five-deity practice. Older more traditional forms of practice of Green Tara describe the Three-deity Green Tara with the goddess Marichi standing to the right side of Tara and a semi-wrathful Ekajati standing on the left side. Ekajati is also an important (3) Protector Deity in both the Nyingma and Sarma (Sakya, Kagyu, Jonang, Gelug) Traditions of Tibetan Buddhism.

In the Nyingma Tradition Ekajati is the principal protector for the 'Revealed Treasure' Traditions. She manifests in numerous forms, both as a standard wrathful figure, black, with one face and two arms and appearing in her more famous guise with only one eye, one tooth, and one breast, sometimes even with only one leg as in the Drigung Kagyu Treasure Tradition (see detail lower left).

In the Sarma, New Traditions of Tibetan Buddhism after the 10th century, Ekajati is represented in all three types, by many different forms in each, accompanied by different narratives depending on the religious tradition and lineage.

In the Sakya Tradition, as a protector inherited from Rinchen Zangpo, Ekajati also plays the role of the mother of Shri Devi (Palden Lhamo Dudsolma) and has a more typical appearance with a wrathful visage and one braid of hair.

Magzor Gyalmo, a form of Shri Devi

2009-09-20T12:03:00.016-04:00

Magzor Gyalmo, meaning the Queen who Repels Armies, or the Queen who has the power to turn back armies, belongs to the larger class of enlightened protector deities known as Shri Devi, or Palden Lhamo in Tibetan. Magzor Gyalmo is a wrathful emanation of the peaceful goddess Sarasvati, popular in both Hinduism and Buddhism.

Shri Devi is understood as a class of female protectors. Some say that there are twenty-one forms of Shri Devi, often including the Bon protector Sipai Gyalmo as one of the forms. Not all forms of Shri Devi have the same entity. The principal form of the protector, Dudsolma or Dudmo Remati, appearing with one face and four arms, riding a donkey, is a wrathful manifestation of Shri Lakshmi. Magzor Gyalmo with two arms, riding a mule, is a manifestation of Sarasvati. In the Bon Religion Sipai Gyalmo is the wrathful form of Satrig Ersang, one of the four principal deities/gods of the Bon Religion.

Magzor Gyalmo, often shortened to Magzorma, was first popularized in Tibet by the Zhang, Mu and Sakya family lineages. This form of Shri Devi was likely indigenous to Tibet and the result of a pure vision (dag nang) or a revealed treasure (terma) discovery. It later entered the Gelug School through the family tradition of either the 1st or the 2nd Dalai Lama (see possibly the earliest Gelug painting). Again at the time of the 5th Dalai Lama in the 17th century it became the special protector of the Dalai Lama incarnation tradition and of the Ganden Podrang Government of Tibet.

The majority of Magzor Gyalmo paintings and sculpture on the HAR website were created for Gelug practitioners and institutions in Tibet, Mongolia and China. Of the nearly 100 objects on the site only three paintings can be identified as belonging to the Sakya Tradition. All of the others are Gelug in origin. How do we know?

There are two ways to distinguish between Sakya and Gelug forms of Magzor Gyalmo. With paintings, inspecting the over-all composition, the minor figures surrounding the central Magzor Gyalmo must be looked at carefully. [1] It is most often the case that Lama Tsongkapa, founder of the Gelug Tradition, wearing a yellow hat, will be placed at the top center, and if not there then somewhere else along the top of the painting. [2] In the texts describing the iconography of Magzorma, for the Gelug, she has a snow lion as an earring for the right ear and a coiled snake for the left earring. In the Sakya Tradition this iconographic detail is reversed. Don't believe us? Look for yourself: Gelug Example, Sakya Example.

Because Magzorma is the wrathful form of Sarasvati and because Sarasvati is the goddess of learning and eloquence, then it follows that she is related to and paired with the bodhisattva of wisdom - Manjushri. However, it would not be proper to have the peaceful appearance of Manjushri associated with the wrathful appearance of Magzorma. So, with all of that said, Magzorma is most commonly associated with the wrathful forms of Manjushri: Heruka Vajrabhairava, Rakta Yamari or Krishna Yamari. These three are the most wrathful forms of Manjushri. They are also meditational deities of the Anuttarayoga Classification of Tantra. It is very common to find one of these three wrathful figures of Manjushri at the top of a Magzorma painting. Sakya paintings generally portray Rakta Yamari at the top along with one or two Lama figures, and often Ngorchen Kunga Zangpo, wearing a red pandita hat.

In the Tantra narrating the history of Magzorma she is described as the servant or younger sister of Shri Devi (with four arms). Aside from functioning as a protector deity in the Sakya and Gelug Traditions of Tibetan Buddhism, Magzor Gyalmo is used extensively in the ritual of divination - generally using dice or prayer beads.

The textual source for Magzor Gyalmo is the Dakinyagnijihajvala Tantra, Dege Kanjur, volume 98, pp.223-253. It is found in the Nyingma Tantra section, vol.3.

Terton Choggyur Lingpa (1829-1870)

2009-09-19T16:13:00.005-04:00

Choggyur Lingpa was a Terton, treasure revealer, of the 19th century and descended from the hereditary Baram Kagyu line. He was also a contemporary and friend to both Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taye and Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo. He discovered many 'termas' that are still popular within the Kagyu and Nyingma Traditions today.

Four Milarepa Paintings

2009-09-15T23:52:00.005-04:00

There are four paintings that depict the Tibetan yogi Milarepa in a similar composition and posture. They are numbered one through four and arranged according to a possible chronology of oldest to youngest. All four figures have essentially the same posture, head and facial features, along with wardrobe and deerskin mat, seated above a rocky outcropping. Starting on the left, composition #1 states that it was "painted by the hand of Choggyur Lingpa." If the inscription is in fact accurate then it would likely have been painted sometime between the mid 1800s and 1870. The significant questions are, did Choggyur Lingpa copy a previous model for the form of Milarepa or did he create this composition from his own imagination? Was Choggyur Lingpa known as an artist as well as a Kagyu and Nyingma Terton - "Treasure Discoverer"? Does his biography mention or provide a list of the artworks he created? Paintings #1 and #2 are the closest in depiction, but it is obvious that all four are based on the same model.

Simhanada Lokeshvara: Lion's Roar

2009-09-10T22:15:00.005-04:00

A new outline page has been added for the form of Avalokiteshvara known as Simhanada 'Lion's Roar.' Originally taught by the Indians Chandragomi and Suvarnadvipa, it entered Tibet in the 11th century with Rinchen Zangpo, Jowo Atisha, Bari Lotsawa and others. The deity form and meditation practices are now found in all traditions of Tibetan Buddhism. A stone sculpture relief of the deity can also be found carved on a rock face in Hangzhou, China, at the edge of the Pacific Ocean. Simhanada Lokeshvara was popularized in Mongolia and China by Sakya Pandita Kunga Gyaltsen (1182-1251) when he cured Godan Khan of leprosy using the special healing techniques of Simhanada.

Yaks and Mandalas! What do they have in Common?

2009-09-06T14:35:00.006-04:00

The Himalayan Art Resources website was certainly a participant in the successful Rubin Museum of Art exhibition Mandala, The Perfect Circle. HAR provided scholarship and essays both for the catalogue publication and wall text on the gallery floor. But what does this all have to do with yaks and mandalas, and what do they have in common? Well, familiar with both the art and the exhibition we have come up with five interesting facts that touch on both the lighter side and the more serious side of the exhibition and Buddhist Tantric art in general. To pursue the yak question see the Five Interesting Facts of the Rubin Museum exhibition. (Also see the Five Myths About Mandalas).

Mandala Resource Page

2009-09-05T19:34:00.002-04:00

It has become obvious that the subject of mandalas is too large for the current navigation on the site. A new Mandala Resource Page has been created to help navigate and also to highlight examples of the different types of mandalas, their elements, iconography and meaning. More example pages will be added....

Reading & Interpreting the Symbols & Iconography of the Yama Dharmaraja Mandala

2009-09-05T12:23:00.011-04:00

Representations of Deity Mandalas are created for many different reasons and probably least of all as 'an artistic aid for meditation' as is commonly believed by many Western scholars. The primary reason for the physical creation of a mandala is to have a visual presence when preparing and conducting a ritual initiation for Tantric Buddhist devotees into a deity yoga meditation practice. Initiations, sometimes called ceremonies or empowerments, require a physical depiction, as stipulated in the Tantric texts, either two dimensional or three dimensional in form, of the deity, the celestial palace and the surrounding lotus petals, vajras and five coloured flames. Sand mandalas and painted wooden mandala plates are good examples of objects used for this ritual function.

Yama Dharmaraja Mandala
Yama Dharmaraja Mandala Elements
Yama Dharmaraja Schematic - Quick Study
Yama Dharmaraja Outline Page
Yama Dharmaraja Main Page

(See an essay on Mandalas: An Introduction, Painting & Sculpture based on the Rubin Museum of Art exhibition Mandala, The Perfect Circle).

Are you researching a subject?

2009-09-03T20:08:00.008-04:00

Do you think a specific image needs to be greyscaled and numbered? Let us know. We only greyscale and give special attention to images we are working on. We would love to hear what you are working on. How can we help with your studies? Your interests may help us and help the field in general. There is a world of iconography, art history and religious studies out there, let us know.

Greyscale Image Pages

2009-08-29T13:41:00.005-04:00

Greyscale has been used throughout the HAR site to create a clear image composition with written names and numbers to improve navigation and identification. Important iconographic subjects, architectural features and composition sequences have been labeled either directly with names on the image or as numbers corresponding to an identification key in the body of explanatory text. There are four basic types of composition where greyscale numbering is most helpful: [1] Cityscapes, [2] Narratives, [3] Figure Compositions and [4] Lineage Compositions.

Vajramrita & Related Forms

2009-08-27T09:06:00.002-04:00

Yes, Vajramrita is a rare and unusual form and not commonly represented as a central figure in art. The deity mostly appears as part of an iconographic compendium such as the Vajravali of Abhayakaragupta, Bari Gyatsa, Sadhana-samucchaya, or in the group of Ten Wrathful Ones. There are four forms of the complex deity that have the name 'amrita' in common and they are all grouped together in the Vajravali literature. Each is described with a retinue of deities and a complex mandala. Several other forms of the deity, usually in a more simplified form, appear in other traditions. There are two deities similar in appearance that can cause confusion in identification: Humkara and Avalokita Samvara. (See the Vajramrita Outline Page).

Mitra Gyatsa: a Compendium of Mandalas

2009-08-26T10:57:00.005-04:00

The Mitra Gyatsa is a collection of one hundred and eight Tantric Mandalas compiled by Mitra Yogin in the 12th - 13th century. It has remained a popular collection and is still current today especially in the Kagyu and Gelug Traditions. It is an important early collection that ranks with the Vajravali, Bari Gyatsa, and Sadhana-samucchaya as one of the most significant iconographic resources describing the deities and mandalas that appear in Himalayan and Tibetan art.

Mitra Gyatsa:
Outline Page
Mandala Contents List
Initiation & Teaching Lineage

Amoghapasha: Unfailing Lasso

2009-08-16T10:27:00.006-04:00

Amoghapasha is a complicated deity subject in Tantric Buddhist iconography. He is easily mistaken for Avalokiteshvara in most artistic depictions. The two deities are frequently conflated together by Western scholars. Sometimes Amoghapasha is described as a form, or emanation, of Avalokiteshvara and again at other times, such as with this mandala of Amoghapasha, a retinue figure while Avalokiteshvara is the central deity in the mandala. It begs the question, why is this mandala called the Five-deity Amoghapasha if the central deity is Avalokiteshvara?

New Outline Pages:
Amoghapasha Outline Page
Amoghapasha: Forms & Traditions Outline

New Outline Pages

2009-08-11T10:34:00.005-04:00

1. Yogi Appearance in Himalayan art with an Outline Page and an Image Sets Page.

2. Female Teachers Outline Page: the teachers represented as main figures in art from India and Tibet.

3. Petroglyphs Outline Page: the beginnings of an outline distinguishing types and regions.

Mongolian Treasures Uncovered

2009-08-10T12:05:00.002-04:00

More Buddhist art treasures have been unearthed from the sands of the Gobi desert in Mongolia and taken to the Danza Rabjaa Temple. See other previously unearthed objects at the Danza Rabjaa Museum in the town of Sainshand. Also see the BBC news article.

Newsletter: May - July 2009

2009-08-03T17:19:00.005-04:00

The HAR Newsletter for May, June and July is ready for mail-out. In the future we will not be doing a separate page for the newsletter but rather relying more on the 'New on the Site' page (blog) along with more frequent e-mail notifications. There are too many changes going on all the time to wait three months for an announcement of changes and additions. To stay on top of things we need to announce changes as they happen.

Pancha Raksha Outline Page

2009-07-26T13:59:00.007-04:00

One of the most difficult to recognize iconographic forms represented in art is the Pancha Raksha - Five Protector Goddesses. The difficulty arises from the fact that there are numerous traditions originating in India and later moving to Nepal, Tibet, Mongolia and China. Each of these traditions describes the five goddesses differently. The colours can be different, the numbers of faces and arms can be different, the postures and what they hold in the hands can be different. These five figures are commonly created as both sculpture, painting and wall murals. In paintings they are both central subjects, figures or mandalas, as well as minor figures in a composition with an unrelated central figure.

General Traditions:
1. Vajravali, 13 Deity Mandala (Abhayakaragupta)
2. 56 Deity Mandala
2. Bari Gyatsa (Bari Lotsawa)
3. Nartang Gyatsa (Atisha)
4. Sadhana-samucchaya (3 systems. Edited version of the 9th Je Khenpo)

A page of Selected Masterworks has been added and can be accessed from the Pancha Raksha Main Page or the Outline Page.

How to Identify a Deity Image:Deities - Mutli-coloured

2009-07-25T15:18:00.006-04:00

A new outline page, Deities: Multi-coloured, has been added to the How to Identify a Deity Outline Page.

Three New Outlines

2009-07-23T23:08:00.002-04:00

- Kurukulla: Goddess of Power
- Krishna Yamari: the Black Killer of Death
- Rakta Yamari: The Red Killer of Death
- Vajrabhairava: Wrathful Manjushri (updated)

The Five Systems of Twenty-one Taras

2009-07-23T16:42:00.011-04:00

It seems that the more popular a deity becomes, more and more forms are created. Tara along with Lokeshvara and Manjushri have many score if not hundreds of different iconographic depictions both described in the Tantric literature and found in paintings and sculpture. Some of these iconographic forms of Tara belong to groups or sets such as the Twenty-one Taras. Three of these groups were created approximately 1000 years ago or more; the Suryagupta, Atisha and Sadhana-samucchaya systems. The first two are named after the Kashmiri and Indian teachers that popularized the systems. The third is named for the Sanskrit text in which a unique system of the Twenty-one Taras is described. The most recent of the systems are the Longchen Nyingtig developed by Jigme Lingpa in the late 1700s, based on the inspiration of Longchenpa, and the system of Chogyur Lingpa from the mid 1800s.

Tara:
1. Solitary Form
2. Three Deity Configuration: Tara, Brikuti and Ekajati
3. Five Deity Configuration
4. Tara and the Eight Fears
5. The Five Systems of the Twenty-one Taras
6. Tara Seventeen Deity Mandala
7. The One-hundred Names (and depictions) of Tara

Topic Outline Pages - Links

2009-07-22T21:29:00.003-04:00

In the Links section of the HAR website there is a complete annotated list in a linear format of all Topic Outline Pages. This list has just been updated with the twenty or so Outlines made in the last six weeks or so. If you have time on your hands and don't know what you want to look at on the site, then go to the linear Outlines List and wander around - see where it takes you.

Mandala Technical Glossary

2009-07-22T11:16:00.006-04:00

The main Mandala Outline Page has been updated and several new detailed and expanded mandala outlines have been created. A new Mandala Technical Glossary has been added to the site. It can be found on the Glossary Page or found linked to the various mandala pages and outlines.

Mandala Art Topics Outline
Mandala: Sets & Traditions Outline
What are Mandalas?
Mandala-like Circular Forms Outline
Mandala Technical Glossary

How to Identify a Deity Image

2009-07-22T02:18:00.005-04:00

Each deity figure has six principal characteristics necessary in identification: [1] gender, [2] mood, [3] colour, [4] body configuration, [5] posture, [6] gestures & hand attributes.

How to Identify a Deity Image
What is gender?
What is mood?
What are the colours?
What is body configuration?
What are the postures?
What are gestures & hand attributes?

Chakrasamvara: Organized & Updated

2009-07-19T13:08:00.012-04:00

The Buddhist Tantric meditational deity Chakrasamvara is a popular subject in Himalayan style art. There are many forms of the deity from a one face, two armed, blue, solitary standing figure, to a seated white figure with a consort. The forms become more complicated with three faces and six arms, four faces and twelve arms and then over a thousand arms with over a thousand retinue deities inhabiting the mandala. Even though the central figure can be identical between two different mandalas, the number and appearance of the retinue figures in the mandala can be different. All of this adds to the great difficulty in correctly identifying a particular Chakrasamvara, painting, sculpture or mandala.

New pages created:
Chakrasamvara Outline Page (updated)
Chakrasamvara Deity Forms Outline (new)
Chakrasamvara Art Topics Outline (new)
Paintings Page (new)
Sculpture Page (new)
Mandala Page (new)

Selected Masterworks:
A Selected Masterworks Page has been created to look at the very best examples of the Chakrasamvara form in painting and sculpture from both an art and aesthetics, i.e. Art History point of view and from a Religious Studies point of view. A chronology page will be added later along with a further analysis of the different forms of the deity, most of which are now represented on the HAR site as central figures or minor figures.

List of Shambhala Kings by Katog Tsewang Norbu

2009-07-17T12:42:00.007-04:00

Tsewang Norbu (1698-1755) wrote a long description of the pureland of Shambhala, associated with the Kalachakra Tantra, along with a short text listing the name of each of the seven Dharma Kings and the following twenty-five Vidyadharas, their number in the series, and from which bodhisattva or deity they are an emanation.

In general, these Shambhala Kings are commonly depicted in art either in a single composition containing all thirty-two figures or in sets of paintings with one figure, three, four, or eight figures per composition. Their are also two different traditions, or ways, to depict the Shambhala Kings: [1] Royal Appearance and [2] Deity Appearance.

The short text of Tsewang Norbu listing the names and emanation sources for all of the kings of the Deity Appearance system is essential for understanding the differences between the two systems and their differing depictions of the kings.

As time allows all of the Shambhala King paintings on HAR, from the various Palpung Composition sets, will be identified and listed (linked) next to the appropriate name in the list of Tsewang Norbu.

Five Most Powerful Tools

2009-07-07T07:32:00.003-04:00

With the ever increasing number of art collections, museums, and image objects added to the HAR website it actually becomes more and more challenging to find the specific objects looked for along with relevant related information. These five tools are the most important on HAR for finding specific objects. To understand how objects relate to each other, and to general subjects or concepts, then look to the extensive Outline Pages.

Five Most Powerful Tools Outline Page
1. Search
2. Indices
3. Glossaries
4. Bibliographies
5. Links

HAR Temporarily Down, Monday July 6th, 2:00 - 4:00 p.m.

2009-07-06T11:14:00.005-04:00

The Himalayan Art Resources website will be down for a short period of time Monday afternoon, July 6th between 2:00 and 4:00 p.m. The web technicians are updating certain key components of the database architecture to improve the search, cataloguing and speed of the site.

Thank you for your patience.

New Images from the Asian Art Museum

2009-07-02T15:16:00.003-04:00

Fourteen new images of paintings from the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco have been uploaded to the HAR site. Write-ups accompany most if not all of the images. Some Asian Art entries in the database have write-ups but no images as yet. In those cases we are using a place card holder thumbnail image.

Maps!

2009-07-01T21:11:00.008-04:00

After talking about it for nearly two years the HAR Team finally has their first linked image map of the Central Tibetan region of U-Tsang. This is the first go at making clickable geographic image maps. We hope to improve them with practice and add more links as we acquire new images of important art and architectural locations in Tibet and the other Himalayan art regions.

We have chosen the linked locations because those are the locations that we currently have images for. As we acquire new images we will add new locations to the maps. The next map will be of Lhasa City and the immediate surroundings followed by West Tibet with its extensive temple murals and cave complexes.

Maps Index:
Map of U-Tsang
Map of Lhasa Region
Map of Samye & Tsetang Region
Map of Tsang Region

New Collections, Outlines, Images & Image Sets

2009-06-29T14:11:00.003-04:00

The Eight Fears Represented in Art

2009-06-28T17:06:00.003-04:00

The eight fears are a common theme represented in Himalayan and Tibetan Buddhist art. The fears are generally associated with Avalokiteshvara, Amoghapasha and Tara. Protection from the fears can be represented by a single deity figure with eight hands, or a central deity accompanied by eight retinue figures each protecting from one of the eight fears. In the case of the Eleven Faced Avalokiteshvara of the Atisha Tradition the attendant deities are all wrathful in appearance.

Shambhala Kings Outline Pages

2009-06-27T17:36:00.008-04:00

An outline page has been created in the process of organizing the various sets of paintings that depict the Shambhala Kings. It soon became clear from the amount of art and number of different sets that there needed to be more than one Outline Page to fully contextualize the material. In general there are two different systems for depicting the Seven Kings and Twenty-five Vidyadharas: Royal Appearance and Deity Appearance. The Royal Appearance system is older and found throughout Tibet and the Himalayan regions. The Deity Appearance was popularized in the Kham region of East Tibet by Katog Tsewang Norbu in the 18th century. It is possible that the Deity Appearance system originates from an earlier Jonang textual tradition. Further research is required.

Shambhala Kings Outline Page
Shambhala Kings: Royal Appearance Outline Page
Shambhala Kings: Deity Appearance Outline Page

Google Alert: "Himalayan Art Resources"

Visual Images of Sets

2009-06-24T14:31:00.007-04:00

In the twelve year history of the HAR website there have been four major additions, or changes, to the site that have improved it tremendously; a quantum leap forward in how the site is used. The first (1) was the extensive use of Thematic Sets, the grouping of related thumbnail images into various sets. Currently there are over two thousand Thematic Sets. The second (2) great improvement was the addition of extensive Outline Pages to contextualize the subjects and topics of Himalayan art. Currently there are approximately three hundred Outline Pages. The third (3) great improvement was the addition of the Google Search which has revolutionized navigation on the site and made everything easier to find and faster. The fourth (4) great innovation on the site is the addition of Visual Images of Sets to represent the full and complete composition of an art work, whenever it is known. More than half of all Himalayan and Tibetan art was created in sets of paintings and sculpture.

See examples of sets of paintings both complete and incomplete:
Eight Mahasiddhas Set (Palpung)
Eight Bodhisattvas Set (Palpung)
Eighty-four Mahasiddhas (Jonang)
Eighty-four Mahasiddhas Set
Jataka Painting Set
Panchen Lama Incarnation Set

Guimet Museum Images

2009-06-24T12:53:00.003-04:00

Images of paintings and sculpture from the gallery floors of the Guimet Museum in Paris have been added to the HAR site. The images are snap shots and of a poor quality for the most part, but it is better to have a bad image than no image at all. The Guimet has one of the finest collections of Himalayan art in Europe, if not all of the Western world.

Image Server Problems

2009-06-24T12:35:00.002-04:00

Over the last month or so we have been having intermittent problems with the HAR image server. This is the software that creates the thumbnail images and allows for zooming and enlarging of those images. We believe that the problems have been identified and fixed for now. New monitoring software has been installed that will keep better track of all aspects of the HAR website. The software will automatically inform us when there are server shut downs and user requests that are not completed. At this time we are also changing and upgrading certain parts of the database architecture so as to improve the functionality of the site. For now most of these changes won't be seen by the users and mostly have to do with how information is accessed by the database. The changes will also allow the HAR team to catalogue large numbers of images more efficiently and most importantly - quickly.

Cityscapes: Additions, Greyscaled & Numbered

2009-06-24T12:03:00.006-04:00

Several of the Lhasa cityscape paintings have been converted to greyscale and numbers have been added to the images identifying the important architectural structures, monasteries and temples.

Additional detail images have been added to the monumental Mongolian painting of Lhasa. New images have been added to the Tashi Lhunpo, Shigatse set along with two early 20th century drawings by European travelers or British surveyors.

Avalokiteshvara: Updates, New Outlines, Images & Sets

2009-05-29T13:06:00.001-04:00

The Avalokiteshvara Outline has been updated and expanded to include an Art Topics and Eleven Faced Outline. Many new sub sets have been added along with new images.

Avalokiteshvara Outline
Avalokiteshvara Art Topics
Avalokiteshvara Eleven Faces

New Outlines, Images & Image Sets

2009-05-25T20:43:00.006-04:00

Outline Pages:
Art Subjects Outline Page (updated)
Padmasambhava Outline (updated)
Padmasambhava: Eight Forms
Padmasambhava: Meditational Forms
Ritual Objects (updated)
Parnashavari: Forest Goddess
Initiation Cards

Image Sets:
Padmasambhava: Eight Forms (Sculpture)
Padmasambhava: Medicine Buddha Form
Buddhist Worldly Protector: Rahula, Retinue Figure
Buddhist Worldly Protector: Ta'og Sengshon
Subject: Samye Monastery Paintings
Charts: Poetry & Calligraphy
Teacher: Do Kyentse Yeshe Dorje
Subject: Cityscapes, Unidentified
Initiation Cards: Rinchen Terdzo Volume NGA
Initiation Cards: Rinchen Terdzo Volume NYA
Initiation Cards: Bodong Sengdong (Simhamukha)
Initiation Cards: Jatson Sengdong (Simhamukha)
Initiation Cards: Chogling Choto Dregpa
Initiation Cards: Longsal Sengmar (Simhamukha)
Initiation Cards: Tagsham Sengmar (Simhamukha)
Initiation Cards: Nyangter Choto Dregpa
Initiation Cards: Rinchen Terdzo Master List
Initiation Cards: Peling
Buddhist Deity: Parnashavari (Yellow, Three Faces)
Buddhist Deity: Parnashavari (Blue, Four Hands)
Buddhist Deity: Parnashavari (Green, Two Hands)
Buddhist Deity: Parnashavari (Sculpture)
Ritual Object: Long Life Vase

New Outlines & Image Sets

2009-05-20T12:37:00.006-04:00

Longchen Nyingtig Treasure Tradition Outline Page:
Images and art associated with the Longchen Nyingtig Treasure Tradition of Jigme Lingpa have been organized into a simple outline page. Many new image sets were created and a number of previously uncatalogued images have been identified during this quick study.

Cityscape & Monastery Paintings Outline Page:
More and more cityscape paintings are turning up in museum and private collections. They are interesting and maybe even fascinating. Some are more accurate than others and at least one appears to be painted from a photograph. Many are easily identified as Lhasa, Tashi Lhunpo or Samye Monastery. A few of them remain unidentified.

New Thematic Sets on HAR

2009-05-11T14:35:00.005-04:00

Hell, Subjects and Depictions:
Hell
Hell Beings Set I
Hell Beings Miscellaneous
Wheel of Life: Bon Religion
Six Buddhas of the Six Realms
Padmasambhava: Six Realms (Peling)

Miscellaneous Subjects:
Vajrabhairava Retinue Figure
Bookcovers, Ranjana/Lantsha Script
Manuscripts, Title Page
Bon Protector: Dragpa Sengge
Vajrapani, Sculpture
Stupa: Dhanyakataka

Nyingma Painting and Initiation Card Sets:
Padmasambhava: Vaishravana Form
Twenty-one Taras of the Chogyur Lingpa Tradition, Initiation Cards
Ngar Pan Yontan Terdzo Initiation Cards
Padmasambhava: Ngar Pan Yontan Terdzo Paintings
Padmasambhava: Terma Forms & Transference Paintings
Longchen Nyingtig Painting Set
Longchen Nyingtig Field of Accumulation Paintings
Yutog Nyingtig Initiation Cards(Set II)
Karling Shitro Initiation Cards
Deling Shitro Initiation Cards
Shigling Zab Dun Initiation Cards
Lama Gongdu Initiation Cards
Jangter Tugdrub Kagye Initiation Cards
Miscellaneous Initiation Cards (Rinchen Ter Dzo, Vol TSA)

Hell: Subjects & Depictions Outline Page

2009-05-07T23:16:00.002-04:00

A HELL Outline Page has been added to the site. It is a work in progress with more images and image sets to be linked. With luck those images will be uploaded tomorrow and more content and context added over the weekend.

Initiation Card Sets - Updated

2009-05-07T23:02:00.004-04:00

The Initiation Card Sets page has been updated and doubled in size. There are now 35 sets of both Bon and Buddhist initiation cards with the latter being in the majority. The bulk of the sets are drawn from the Rinchen Ter Dzo collection of Revealed Treasure teachings of the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. More sets will be added over the next few months.

European & Asian Museums Updated

2009-05-05T00:18:00.002-04:00

The lists for both the European museums and the Asian museums have been updated. There are still many more to add and some have been listed without proper links. If you can think of any that we have missed then please e-mail us and let us know so that we can add them. For Mongolia only the main museums have been added. There are, possibly, twenty-three provinces and each has a provincial museum. India has many more museums with collections of Himalayan art than what we have listed. Documenting all of the Himalayan art in the world that resides in museum collections is an enormous and ongoing project.

American Museums Updated

2009-04-28T10:15:00.005-04:00

So far, in the United States, there are sixty-two (62) museums in twenty-one (21) states that have been identified as having collections of Himalayan & Tibetan style art. It is very likely that there are a number of other museums out there not yet identified. Twenty (20) of these museums with images from their collections are currently represented on the Himalayan Art Resources (HAR) website. The HAR staff are continuing to contact and work with other museums in the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia, to encourage their participation in this global cultural endeavor.

Google Alert: "Himalayan Art Resources"

Newsletter: February - April 2009

2009-04-21T14:29:00.006-04:00

The Newsletter is out and can be found on the Home Page under New On the Site.

As of February 2009 the HAR staff have installed new office computers and a new fully raided storage and back-up system for all in-house work. The storage and back-up system has been a long time coming. It is finally here and a welcomed improvement. The website itself has always been fully backed up by our internet service provider.

Since October of 2008 until now 48 Blog entries have been added to the site; announcing new additions, features, collections, exhibitions and links. Whenever new information or content is uploaded to the blog it is also added to the HAR database as a backup pre-caution. The Testimonial Page is growing slowly and on February 3rd, 2009, a second call for testimonials was sent out to all academics, scholars and educators who use the site. Please send testimonials to info@himalayanart.org. We are especially interested to hear from those educators that use the site in classroom settings.

Google Alert: "Himalayan Art Resources"

Receiving E-mail Blog Updates

2009-04-20T08:36:00.002-04:00

To receive e-mail updates for all postings to the HAR Blog - sign up for Google Alerts and enter "Himalayan Art Resources" with quotation marks. We have tested this and it works although it sometimes takes up to five days for the Google bots to re-visit blog sites.

Patron and Painter

2009-04-19T10:06:00.001-04:00

Patron and Painter
Rubin Museum of Art, New York
February 6, 2009 - August 17, 2009

Much like religious princes, the Karmapas, heads of the Karma Kagyu, one of Tibet's principal schools of Buddhism, traveled for centuries in large monastic tent encampments. These courts, which included portable temples, a community of monks, and skilled artists and artisans, produced their own distinctive painting style, known as the "Encampment style" (Gardri). The painter Namkha Tashi founded the style in the court of the Ninth Karmapa (1555-1603) in Central Tibet. He looked to Indian figural models and placed them in landscapes inspired heavily by the works of Chinese court painters.

Most of what we know of this painting tradition belongs to its eighteenth-century revival fostered by the great scholar-painter Situ Panchen (1700-1774) in Kham Province, Eastern Tibet, with its new artistic center at his monastic seat, Palpung. Even more important to the history of Tibetan art than Situ Panchen's role as a painter is his role as a patron and designer of paintings, many of which continue to be copied to this day. For the first time anywhere, this exhibition traces the career and artistic legacy of one of the great patrons and artists in Tibetan history. (From the RMA website).

Google Alert: "Himalayan Art Resources"

Stable as a Mountain

2009-04-19T10:02:00.003-04:00

Stable as a Mountain
Rubin Museum of Art, New York
March 13, 2009 - July 13, 2009

Portraiture is one of the most powerful and significant expressions of figurative art, and in the Himalayas the subjects of religious portraits are exclusively religious teachers, or gurus. By preserving the physical appearance of a guru, an icon is produced that can charismatically substitute for the teacher in his physical absence. As such these portraits often embody the teachings of the guru and the traits of the enlightened mind. (From RMA website).

Google Alert: "Himalayan Art Resources"

Toward Enlightenment: The Sacred Art of Tibet & Universe of a Deity: A Tibetan Sand Mandala

2009-04-19T09:55:00.003-04:00

Toward Enlightenment: The Sacred Art of Tibet & Universe of a Deity: A Tibetan Sand Mandala
University Art Museum, UC Santa Barbara
April 1, 2009 – June 14, 2009

In conjunction with the historic fourth visit to UC Santa Barbara by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama in April, the University Art Museum announces an exclusive presentation of historic and living art of the Himalayas. Toward Enlightenment: The Sacred Art of Tibet prime examples of Tibetan paintings from the 14th to 19th centuries. The exhibition highlights the multi-level functioning of the art and its themes of transformation of the profound into the worldly with a strong emphasis on depictions of teaching. These paintings echo the purity and precision of visionary buddhas, bodhisattvas, archetypal deities, lama portraits, and protectors. (From UAM UCSB website).

Google Alert: "Himalayan Art Resources"

The Creatures of the Rain Rivers, Cloud Lakes

2009-04-19T09:48:00.002-04:00

The Creatures of the Rain Rivers, Cloud Lakes: Newars Saw Them, So Did Ancient India, by Gautama V. Vajracharya.

"The magnificent works of the Newar artists and architects of the Kathmandu valley include not only paintings, sculptures, residential houses, public building and royal palaces but also water fountains comfortably positioned in public places near the residential area or inside the palaces."

Google Alert: "Himalayan Art Resources"

Marvels of the Malla Period

2009-04-19T09:41:00.003-04:00

Marvels of the Malla Period: A Nepalese Renaissance 1200-1603.
The Philadelphia Museum of Art.
December 22, 2007 – June 1, 2008.

In this exhibition, the Philadelphia Museum presents masterpieces from its own outstanding collection of rarely seen Malla Period art. Vibrant Buddhist ritual paintings burst with energy, a marvelous goddess coyly dances, and golden Hindu and Buddhist sculptures regally invite adoration. From INTRODUCTION.

Google Alert: "Himalayan Art Resources"

Diagrammatic Prayers

2009-03-29T00:22:00.009-04:00

These three images are large mural paintings at the entrance to the Deer Park Institute temple in Bir, India (the old Dzongsar Institute). They are diagrammatic prayers intended to be read in any direction and still retain their meaning. Creating visually pleasing depictions of prayers is an old Indian tradition that found its way to Tibet and the Himalayas through the Buddhist migration northward. These particular prayers were composed by Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo in the 19th century. At the top is a Shakyamuni Buddha prayer followed by Sakya Pandita Kunga Gyaltsen and finally Longchen Rabjampa at the bottom. The Shakyamuni and Sapan are on the left of the entrance and the Longchenpa on the right accompanied by a sword and lotus motif with two double headed birds (not shown here). All of these images will be uploaded to the HAR database shortly.

Google Alert: "Himalayan Art Resources"

Recieving E-mail Blog Updates

2009-03-10T08:03:00.002-04:00

To receive e-mail updates for all postings to the HAR Blog then sign up for Google Alerts and enter "Himalayan Art Resources" with quotation marks. We have tested this and it works although it sometimes takes up to five days for the Google bots to re-visit blog sites.

Hats, More About Hats!

2009-03-07T14:52:00.005-05:00

Hats are fascinating, hats are costume, hats are religious insignia. If you can recognize the different types of Tibetan and Himalayan religious hats then you're way ahead of the game and ahead of the rest of the pack. And yes, when you start talking about hats then it is competitive. It can even be slightly sectarian. It wasn't until I traveled to Mongolia that I fully understood the truth about the valid use of the terms Yellow Hat and Red Hat. Terms I had generally been avoiding all my life. Anyway, to the point. Here is a link to a wonderful and informative article on Tibetan religious hats. The article in Pdf format is specifically about Pandita hats. Coiffe de Pandit by Etienne Bock.

Also see the HAR Hats Outline Pages. They have not been updated since posting in December 2007. Since then David Jackson has included a discussion about Karma Kagyu (Kamtsang) hats in his latest publication: Patron and Painter, Situ Panchen and the Revival of the Encampment Style. Rubin Museum of Art, 2009.

--- Jeff Watt

Google Alert: "Himalayan Art Resources"

Blue Beryl Medical Charts

2009-03-03T21:00:00.007-05:00

The Blue Beryl (vaidurya ngonpo) medical charts are a set of paintings based on the text of the same name compiled and edited by the Desi Sanggye Gyatso in the 17th century. It is thought that there are several original sets numbering approximately 85 paintings each. Each painting represents a single chapter from the Blue Beryl. From the Blue Beryl sets recorded on the HAR website it can be seen that since the 17th century onward the total number of paintings has been reduced by doubling up and sometimes tripling up on chapters thus condensing them into single paintings. The overall effect is various painting sets of unknown number but definitely reduced in size from the original 85 or so paintings. More research needs to be done to determine if there is an accepted system for reducing the overall number or if it is up to the artist and patron to create a Blue Beryl set according to there own resources.

Google Alerts "Himalayan Art Resources"

Charts: Outline Page

2009-03-03T14:54:00.003-05:00

A new Charts Outline Page has been uploaded to the site. The word 'charts' is not really a Tibetan or Buddhist technical word but 10 years ago when the HAR website was first being developed we needed a word that was inclusive and described the various types of paintings that looked like instructional charts. These paintings were often of irregular shape and contained geometric compositions and substantial amounts of inscriptions, calligraphy and symbols.

Tseringma & the Long-life Sisters

2009-03-02T22:13:00.007-05:00

Tseringma is a protector of Buddhism in both Tibet and in the Himalayan Mountain regions. She and her four sisters have a popular narrative history that is strongly connected to the life story of Milarepa. After Padmasambhava had earlier subjugated the sisters, later Milarepa became their teacher and taught them mahamudra and karma yoga. In one very detailed painting a number of scenes depict the sisters who at first try to distract Milarepa to test him and later receive personal instructions in the sexual yogas of Tantric Buddhism - karma yoga.

Arhat Set: Chinese Ink Paintings

2009-03-01T17:49:00.006-05:00

These paintings which appear to be executed in an obvious Chinese black ink technique are somewhat controversial. They are claimed by some to be the work of the 10th Karmapa Choying Dorje. It is true that Choying Dorje experimented with different techniques and styles a clear example of which is his version of the Buddha's life story. However, it will be left up to the 10th Karmapa experts to determine if he also did Chinese black ink compositions.

There are three of these paintings known to be in North America. Eleven paintings remain in the Himalayan Regions. Two paintings belong to a private collector. Those two are a Guardian King and the attendant Dharmatala, therefore the remaining three Guardian Kings and Hvashang are each painted in a separate composition. The centerpiece of the set, Shakyamuni Buddha, is unaccounted for but is likely to be in a composition with Shariputra and Maudgalyayana standing at the right and left side. These calculations if correct would mean that the full set of paintings is twenty-three in number.

The Thirteen Golden Dharmas of Sakya

2009-03-01T17:23:00.002-05:00

Thirteen Golden Dharmas (Tib.: ser cho chu sum): a set of thirteen or more special meditation practices extracted from numerous different Tantra systems. There are several sets or enumerations that make up the Thirteen. The deities standard to all sets are the Three Red Ones (Marmo Kor Sum); Vajrayogini of Naropa, Vajrayogini of Indrabhuti and Vajrayogini of Maitripa - all from the Chakrasamvara cycle of Tantras. The Three Great Red Ones (Marpo Kor Sum); Kurukulla of the Hevajra Tantra, Takkiraja of the Guhyasamaja and Maharakta Ganapati associated with the Chakrasamvara. The Three Small Red Ones (Marchung Kor Sum); Kurukulla-Tara, Red Vasudhara and Tinuma. The four standard remaining deities are Black Manjushri, Shabala Garuda from the Kalachakra Tantra, Simhanada Avalokiteshvara from its own tantra and Red Jambhala from the Chakrasamvara. Alternates are the dakini Simhamukha associated with the Chakrasamvara, Amaravajradevi of the Chakrasamvara and Nine Deity Amitayus from its own Tantra.

Handprints & Footprints Outline Page

2009-03-01T16:32:00.003-05:00

Handprints and footprints are timeless human symbols found as wall paintings in prehistoric caves and on modern street intersection signs telling us not to cross. The feet of the Buddha were carved in stone as were those of Vishnu and other notable Indian gods. In the Himalayas and Tibet the custom of tracing a revered teachers feet and then painting them in or decorating around them with deities and lineage figures became popular at the time of Pagmodrupa Dorje Gyalpo who is credited with writing the first Tibetan explanatory text. Jigten Sumgon also authored a text on the meaning, sanctification and function of such tracings.

Arhat Outline Pages Updated

2009-03-01T10:52:00.007-05:00

The subject of Arhats is actually the foundation of Himalayan Buddhist iconography, painting and sculpture. Temples and shrines invariably have an image of Shakyamuni Buddha. Where you have an image of the Buddha then there should follow the Sixteen Great Arhats, the Four Guardian Kings and then Dharmatala, later to be joined by Hvashang. (The liturgies from India and Kashmir do not include Hvashang although they do include Dharmatala).

When describing subjects in art, or the group of religious figures, Western art historians commonly use the phrase 'sixteen arhats' as do native Tibetan speakers in their own language 'ne ten chu drug' when talking about the important students of the Buddha. This is actually a curious phenomenon because the Sixteen Arhats are almost never depicted on their own. They are always created as retinue figures surrounding or placed at either side of Shakyamuni Buddha. Any set of arhat paintings, or sculpture, automatically implies that Shakyamuni is at the center. This central Shakyamuni is generally painted or created larger than the accompanying arhats. So, what this really means when looking at individual paintings or sculpture of arhats is that for every sixteen arhats there is going to be one Shakyamuni Buddha. In Himalayan art many of the Shakyamuni Buddha paintings thought to be simply a painting of Shakyamuni are actually not simply that. What they are is more precisely the centerpiece of a set of paintings that also includes the Sixteen Arhats, Four Guardian Kings and Two Attendants. The Sixteen Arhats are always a larger package of figures. See a numbered schematic of Shakyamuni Buddha and the Arhats with all attendant figures.

In modern times it seems that it is the sixteen that get all of the attention. Based on the Western art publications of the last number of decades Shakyamuni seems to have been relegated to a minor position in any Sixteen Arhat discussion. Rarely if ever is it mentioned in publications or exhibition signage that a significant or impressive Buddha is a centerpiece, or might be a centerpiece, of a much larger artistic and religious composition. Whenever looking at Himalayan art, paintings and sculpture, it should always be the first or second question that comes to mind "does this belong to a set or was it created as a single object"? When this question is asked then the answer should be, at least fifty percent of the time, "yes, it belongs to a set."

If we can agree that Shakyamuni Buddha has been marginalized in his own depictions, compositions and within his own visual Himalayan contextual framework then what about the two Arhats that stand apart from and are superior to the sixteen. These two are so important that they are not even referred to as belonging to the sixteen, but literally stand apart. They are referred to directly by name as a sign of their importance. In all of the liturgies their names follow immediately after that of the Buddha and before those of the sixteen. They are Shariputra and Maudgalyayana the two principal students of Shakyamuni Buddha. In paintings that present the Buddha and Arhats then these two seemingly forgotten figures are always depicted as standing immediately to the right and left of Shakyamuni. Not only are they regarded as the two principal students of the Buddha but they are likely historical figures. They are further counted as the first two patriarchs of Buddhism after the passing of the Buddha. In comparison, historical evidence by Western standards for the existence of the other Sixteen Great Arhats is dubious at best.

When depicted in sculpture Shariputra and Maudgalyayana are cast individually. The standing sculptural arhat figures in Himalayan art are rarely discussed and generally remain ignored in museum and private collections. Part of the reason for this can likely be explained by a lack of individual characteristics for the standing Shariputra and Maudgalyayana. In comparison it is always nice to look at different depictions of the Arhat Bakula, almost always with facial characteristics, wizened and aged, and then to take note of how the jewel disgorging mongoose is portrayed.

Shakyamuni Buddha and the Sixteen Arhats, in painting and sculpture sets, are plentiful in Himalayan art. They alone make up a significant percentage of all art found in temples, museums and private collections. Knowing that and knowing that sets are a unique and distinguishing feature of Himalayan art, then, the Arhats can no longer be looked at in isolation. Shakyamuni Buddha cannot be looked at in isolation, neither can the Guardian Kings, Two Attendants, or especially the two principal students of the Buddha. Commissioned by an individual/s or community and created by an artist or atelier, it is all of these twenty-five figures that make up the composition and they together form the complete religious and artistic work.

Arhat Outline Page
Arhat Art Topics
Arhat Painting Sets
Arhat Sets Linear List

Vaishravana: Guardian of the North

2009-02-26T00:48:00.003-05:00

Vaishravana is one of the guardians (or kings) of the four directions in Buddhist cosmology. Vaishravana, leader of the Yaksha race, is a worldly guardian viewed as both a protector and benefactor (wealth deity). In Buddhist cosmology he lives on the north side of the lower slopes of mount Meru in the Heaven of the Four Great Kings. As the leader of the Four Direction Guardians, he like the others, swore an oath of protection before the Buddha Shakyamuni. The stories and iconography of the Four Guardian Kings arise originally with the early Buddhist sutras and became fully developed in the later Mahayana sutras. The Four Guardians are common to all schools of Tibetan Buddhism. Paintings of the Four are found as murals at the entrance way into temples and in sets depicting Shakyamuni Buddha and the Sixteen Great Arhats. The Four Guardians are rarely if ever painted alone except for Vaishravana who has more than a dozen different iconographic forms.

Prajnaparamita: Mother of Wisdom

2009-02-24T20:53:00.003-05:00

A new outline page for the deity, the personification of the Prajnaparamita text has been uploaded to the site. There are two common iconographic forms of Prajnaparamita. The more common of these is the one face, four armed, yellow deity and the second is the one face two armed white form. There appear to be a number of Revealed Treasure forms and the Tibetan literature for these will need to be consulted. In museum and private collections worldwide there are many examples of Prajnaparamita represented in illuminated manuscripts. Many of these manuscript depictions do not follow the two common Tantric meditation forms discussed above.

Sarasvati: Goddess of Eloquence - Outline Page

2009-02-22T22:21:00.005-05:00

Sarasvati is a goddess of wisdom and learning in the both the Hindu and Buddhist religious traditions. She specializes in language, poetry and grammar. In Tantric Buddhism there are numerous forms of Sarasvati, peaceful and wrathful. The most common form is Vina Sarasvati, white in colour, with one face and two hands holding a stringed instrument. In this white two armed form there are descriptions for a solitary figure, a five deity mandala and a thirteen deity mandala. The three red forms of Sarasvati come from the Krishna Yamari Tantra. There are a number of descriptions of Manjushri embracing the consort Sarasvati and one form of red Sarasvati where it is Manjushri that is the minor consort. Shri Devi is a category of female protector deities. The Shri Devi known as Magzor Gyalmo is the most wrathful form of Sarasvati. She is also the special protector of the Dalai Lamas. The deity Rakta Yamari, a wrathful form of Manjushri, is commonly found at the top center of Magzor Gyalmo paintings.

Updates, Changes & Additions

2009-02-22T10:56:00.002-05:00

The Iconography Outlines Index has been updated with all the new additions and changes. Mahamaya the Buddhist Tantric deity of 'Great Illusion' has been added along with an outline on Handprints & Footprints.

The Mongolian images from the Rinjung Lhantab of the 4th Panchen Lama are slowly being uploaded and catalogued. This is a complete illuminated text currently belonging to the Volkerkundemuseum der Universitat Zurich, Switzerland and the same subject matter as the publication Buddhist Iconography by Lokesh Chandra.

Many more outlines and thematic sets have been updated:
Chakrasamvara
Kalachakra
Mandalas
Iconography: Source Texts & Collections
Vajravali: Mandala & Deities

Changes & Updates for Paintings & Sculptures

2009-02-08T23:22:00.007-05:00

From the Art Link on the HAR home page three further links appear: Painting, Sculpture and Textiles. The Painting and Sculpture Pages have been updated. A Regions Page has been added along with an updated Religious Traditions Page. The Regions and Religions links have been added to the left hand navigation menu found on most secondary pages.

A Second Call for Testimonials

2009-02-03T13:49:00.003-05:00

The HAR website provides many services (HAR Services) that benefit the field of Himalayan art, culture and religious studies. We are in need of testimonials.

The HAR website is requesting, for the purposes of grant writing and fund raising, scholars, academics, and educators of all kinds to send in testimonials of support to be posted on the site. The website was created and went live in 1997. Technology has changed, hardware is more robust, and software offers many more features and benefits to the end users. The HAR website needs to look towards the future with plans for new technologies, upgrades to existing infra-structure and new user features. Please help us in moving the field forward. Thank You.

Send testimonials to: info@himalayanart.org, or
himalayanartresources@gmail.com

--- Jeff Watt
Director & Chief Curator

Newsletter: November 08 - January 2009

2009-01-28T11:26:00.006-05:00

The Newsletter is out and can be found on the Home Page under New On the Site. It mostly talks about the Blog, the new Google Custom Search on the site and the request for testimonials.

Those of you that follow the Blog will be familiar with everything in the Newsletter already. The only new item is the Collection Addition of the Ocean of Tantras. These images are modern. They are published in China and they are likely the product of Photoshop. What is important is that they represent all of the sixty-eight mandalas from a rare Jonang Tradition text called the Gyu De Gyatso (rgyud sde rgya mtsho). The art quality is negligible but their iconographic importance justifies inclusion on the HAR website.

A Request For Testimonials

2009-01-12T14:02:00.004-05:00

The HAR website is requesting, for the purposes of grant writing and fund raising, scholars, academics, and educators of all kinds to send in testimonials of support to be posted on the site. The website was created and went live in 1997. Technology has changed, hardware is more robust, and software offers many more features and benefits to the end users. The HAR website needs to look towards the future with plans for new technologies, upgrades to existing infra-structure and new user features. Please help us in moving the field forward. Thank You.

Send testimonials to: info@himalayanart.org, or
himalayanartresources@gmail.com

--- Jeff Watt
Director & Chief Curator

HAR Home Page: Google Custom Search

2009-01-11T14:52:00.002-05:00

The Google Custom Search has now been added to the HAR Home Page. It is also located on the Advanced Search Page and the HAR Blog Page.

New Search & Changes to Navigation

2009-01-11T01:50:00.006-05:00

A Google Search Box has been added to the top right of the HAR Blog Page and to the Advanced Search Page. The HAR Home Page is in the process of being re-designed and simplified. When it is finished it will include the Google Search as well.

The navigation menu that appears on the left side of most pages has been re-ordered and includes more choices. Content from some pages has been moved to the Introduction Page. The About Us Page has been simplified. The new pages called Art History and Iconography are still being worked on so please have patience for now.

The Function & Relationships Guide/Glossary has been doubled in size and all of the links are slowly being added. We will now begin to annotate the entries. If you think that we have left things off the list then please let us know.

Amitabha/Amitayus Outline Page

2009-01-03T00:38:00.010-05:00

Amitabha and Amitayus, although one and the same Buddha, they are each represented differently in art. Amitabha is always depicted in traditional monk's robes whereas Amitayus is lavishly attired in jewels, ornaments, silks and wearing an elaborate crown.

Most of the paintings of Amitabha Buddha show him seated is the pureland of Sukhavati surrounded by the two principle bodhisattva disciples, Lokeshvara and Sthamaprapta, and the Eight Great Bodhisattvas. Amitabha is also found depicted in simple painted compositions without excessive embellishment or complexity. Amitayus Buddha, of which there are far more paintings and sculpture to look at, is generally depicted in a Tantric context of mandalas, seated with a consort, or surrounded by hosts of retinue deities.

The depictions of Amitabha seem to be based more on Mahayana scripture and narrative while the images of Amitayus appear to be much more Tantric in nature and incorporate ritual and meditation elements.

These are just quick observations made in the moment. In the process of creating a graphic outline page all of the images of a particular subject need to be looked at, identified, labeled, and grouped according to type, context, etc. At the end of this, we look again at all of the images, such as for Amitabha/Amitayus, and one can't help but have a renewed and revitalized view of the subject.

Marichi 'Goddess of the Dawn' Outline Page

2009-01-03T00:22:00.005-05:00

The goddess Marichi, although not so popular in the last few centuries, was at one time a very important deity in Tantric Buddhism. She has a very large number of different forms both peaceful and wrathful, simple and complex. The most consistent features found in her iconography are a pig, or sow, face to the side or above the main face. She can be riding atop a pig or horse, or seated in a chariot drawn by five or seven pigs or horses. She is usually either red or yellow in colour. In some depictions Marichi is shown holding a branch of the Ashoka tree and a sewing needle.