Yama in Hell as understood in Himalayan & Tibetan Buddhism and subsequent artistic representations might appear at first glance to be a simple topic, not too profound, nothing complicated, and so it seems.

Here are some basic questions:

1. Who is Yama according to Buddhism?

2. How is Yama described?

3. Is Yama a living being, a personification, a deity, or a god?

4. Is the Buddhist Yama the same as the Hindu Yama (is there a Hindu - Vedic/Puranic - Yama)?

Field of Accumulation, or Refuge Field: A Refuge Field is a particular type of iconographic composition that arranges all of the teachers and deities of a particular religious tradition (Tibetan Buddhist or Bon Religion) in one painted composition as formulated by individual religious traditions and as described in liturgical texts. The function of a Refuge Field is to be a visual composition reminding the devotee of all of the most sacred objects contained in the tradition, and in this case the Lama, Sanggye, Bon, Sempa, Yidam, Khandro and Sungma.

Based solely on observation there appears to be two types of Bon Refuge Field Paintings easily distinguishable by the iconography of the central figures. The first type depicts the figure of (1) Nyamme Sherab Gyaltsen. He is shown in his typical iconographic form wearing monastic robes and a lotus hat, holding flower blossoms supporting a sword and book. The second type of Refuge Field painting depicts the deity (2) Shenlha Okar, white in colour, seated in a posture of meditation with the hands placed in the lap. It is commonly said that the Shenlha Okar type was designed by Shardza Tashi Gyaltsen (1859-1933).

The oldest of the Bon Refuge Field paintings catalogued on the HAR site is #98896 belonging to the Hahn Collection. Unfortunately we do not have permission as yet to display the images from that collection. However, the painting is likely to be dated as early to mid 19th century and from Central Tibet. Many of the other Refuge Field paintings  are of late 19th or 20th century creation and from Eastern Tibet.

Shenlha Okar Type: HAR #81494, 99000, 200013, 200016.

Nyamme Sherab Gyaltsen Type: HAR #64402, 70112, 70142, 98896.

Heruka is a Sanskrit word that has a number of different meanings depending on the Tantra literature in which it is defined. In the Tibetan language the word heruka is translated as drag tung which means blood drinker. This translation of the Tibetan word is more descriptive than it is etymological. When the term heruka is used in art and iconography it generally has three different meanings as found below.

In the Nyingma (Old) Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism Heruka generally refers to any male-meditational deity, wrathful in appearance, typically with three faces, six arms, four legs, wings and a consort. There are eight famous and specific Nyingma Heruka deities originating with the Eight Vidyadhara teachers of the early tradition. Some deities with a semi-peaceful - semi-wrathful appearance, arising from specific Revealed Treasure Traditions, may also be referred to as Heruka.

In the Sarma (New) Traditions of Sakya, Kagyu, Jonang and others, the term Heruka is typically understood to mean any complex Anuttarayoga male-meditational deity, peaceful or wrathful, that appears in a simplified form with one face, two arms and a consort.

In the Gelug Tradition (also belonging to the Sarma) the term Heruka is almost exclusively used to refer to the complex meditational deity Chakrasamvara in all aspects, complex with multiple faces and arms or the simple with one face and two arms, and all the variations in between.