Drala Yesi Gyalpo: a worldly protector. The founder of the Bon Religion, Tonpa Shenrab, sits above and various human, daemon-like and animal figures encircle the central protector.

Dressed as a warrior (Drala Appearance) with chain mail and a helmet, Drala Yesi Gyalpo holds upraised in the right hand a riding crop and the left held at the side firmly grasps upright a long spear decorated with a pendant. A sword, bow and quiver of arrows hang at the waist. Atop a galloping white horse he is surrounded by billowing white clouds and wild animals.

At the upper corners, sides and along the bottom are numerous animals, attendants mounted on various animals and warriors riding horses. Each figure is accompanied by a Tibetan name inscription.

There are three groups of figures that surround the central deity.

The first group of four figures are found at the top and bottom corners. They each have an animal face and ride the same animal as represented by the face of the rider. At the top left is Dudul Kyung Chen with a Kyung (bird) face riding a kyung. At the top right is Kundul Drag Chen with a dragon face riding a dragon. At the bottom right is Pa-ngam Darchen with a tiger face and riding a tiger. At the bottom left is Kadrag Dradul with a lion face and riding atop a lion.

The second group, below the central figure, consists of four human-like warriors in Drala Appearance riding horses. At the center of this group is Domgo Lang Nying, a Kyung faced figure with bird wings, also riding a horse.

The third and last group consists of various animals, birds and four legged creatures, eleven in number, surrounding the central figure and interspersed with the other two groups. Some of the animals are easily recognizable such as the golden-eyed kyung, the black kyung, pheasant, wolf (?), tiger, leopard, conch lion, snow lion, golden lion, flying mouse and marmot (?). These eleven animals appear very similar in function to the Thirteen Werma that accompany Ling Gesar when he appears in the Gesar Norbu Dradul form.

In Manduwalla, North India, near Dehradun there is a small Bon Monastery with some nice art - although mostly new. What is most interesting are the unique iconographic forms, a graphic map of the sacred land of Olmo Lungring and the Bon version of the Wheel of Life (Sipa'i khorlo).

The appearance of the Bon deity Magyu Sangchog Tartug follows very closely with several popular Tantric Buddhist deities such as Shri Hevajra and Chakrasamvara. As a comparison, look at the similarities of the 1. standing posture of all three deity figures, 2. the colour of the body, 3. the number of heads, 4. the number of arms, 5. the form of the consort, 6. the posture of the consort, 7. the colour of the consort, 8. the sixteen skullcups in the hands.

Magyu Sangchog Tartug (ma rgyud g.sang mchog mthar thug) is likely the most important Bon meditational deity to appear after the early formulation of the Five Excellent Ones of the Se Fortress and the very early deity Zhangzhung Meri.

The appearance and teachings of Magyu follow much more closely with those of Tantric Buddhism than the Five Excellent Ones. The Magyu is not only similar in appearance to the Buddhist deities Shri Hevajra and Chakrasamvara but also follows closely the literature and commentarial explanations especially with such arcane subjects as generation and perfection stage, dream yoga, clear light, etc.

The deity Magyu is wrathful in appearance, blue in colour, with seven heads and sixteen arms holding sixteen skullcups and each containing a heart. Embracing the consort Kyema Marmo, red in colour, one face and two arms, Magyu stands with the right legs straight and the left bent. The human lineage of Magyu is believed to have started with the Tibetan teacher Zangsa Ringtsun.

Namkha Gyatso a Bon Lama of unknown date, of unknown region and of unknown lineage affiliations.

Seated upright, slightly portly, with silver inlaid eyes a mustache and goatee, he appears slightly older in appearance - possibly depicting a teacher in mid life or later. The right hand is in a gesture of explication or blessing while holding a flower supporting an umbrella-like banner. The left hand is extended across the knee with the palm up, the fingers holding the stem of a flower with the blossom supporting a folio book. The upper torso wears a single robe draped across the left shoulder while a meditation belt goes from the right side to the left across the chest. The head is adorned with a variation of the lotus hat of which there are many different types. Long lappets hang to the right and left and the front is marked with a crescent moon and sun. Again, seated in a typical manner, the legs are placed in a cross legged posture, right over left, atop a double lotus base. (See Bon Hats).

The bottom of the sculpture has a metal plate with an incised 'yungdrung' design circling to the left in the manner typical of the Bon Tradition. The date of the object is speculative and it is possible the object is much more recent in time. An inscription is located around the base of the sculpture.

Jeff Watt 4-2006 [updated 4-2011]

Wylie Transliteration: rje rbas pa'i rigs dzin nam mkha' rgyam mtsho la. krad nam mkha' rin chen gus pas phyag mtshal lo. bdag sogs pha ma'i tso gyas sems kun rnam. gan mchog khyed kyi grung du grib byans nam. nyur du sads rgyas dgo' phang thob par shog.

The Bon Deities Outline Page has been updated along with the addition of more links.

An Outline Page highlighting the art and iconography of Bon Teachers has been added to the site along with updating of the Bon Teachers Main Page. Numerous gallery pages have been added along with additional cataloguing.

Many of the images of teachers, painting and sculpture, belong to much larger sets of images. The vast majority of images of Bon teachers are found depicted in sets of initiation and lineage cards (these sets have not yet been sorted).

The principal categories of Bon teachers depicted in art are those of the [1] Three Lineages of Dzogchen followed by the [2] Bon Monastic Lineage (typically with Nyamme Sherab Gyaltsen or Tritsug Gyalwa at the center), the [3] Magyu Lineage and [4] the Bon Refuge Field. These are the four principal subjects making up a large portion of teacher depictions. After these four there are various miscellaneous lineages of other deities and teaching lines.

The Bon Art Topics Outline Page has been updated along with additional links and added gallery pages.

The Bon Religion Outline Page has been updated along with additional links and cataloguing added.

Bon Chorten (Tibetan: mchod rten) are reliquary mounds comparable to the Buddhist stupa. Bon chorten can be immediately distinguished from the Buddhist stupa by a set of Horned Eagle (kyung) horns that are placed on the top of the spire. In the Bon Religion there are 121 chorten designs intended for use on the earth. There are a further 121 for the sky and another 121 for the underworld. These images depict the 121 for use on the earth.