Dear Subscribers,

Always refer to the HAR News/Blog for the latest updates on the site.

Since the last Newsletter of May-July 2009 there have been some significant improvements made to the Advanced Search feature. Previously it 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 an option. When searching on a specific subject the default is set to display both paintings and sculpture. For more advanced search queries on medium then paintings or sculpture can be selected individually. The unique options for paintings (here 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.

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