Himalayan Art Resources

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An Early Tibetan Mandala of Ekallavira Achala

An early Tibetan mandala of Ekallavira Achala in a private collection:
An Art Historical Analysis
by Pratapaditya Pal.


The history of portable Tibetan painting can now be confidently pushed back to the eleventh century. Buddhism was officially introduced to the country under the great ruler Song-tsen Gampo (r. 609-649) of the Yarlung dynasty and one can form a good idea of the architecture and sculpture of this early historical period; but significant evidence for Tibetan painting of any kind, cannot be traced back much earlier than the tenth century. (Read the full article).