Himalayan Art Resources

Item: Worldly Protector (Buddhist) - Tsangpa Karpo

འཇིག་རྟེན་པའི་ལྷ། ནང་ལྷ། 世俗的神(佛教)
(item no. 853)
Origin Location Tibet
Date Range 1600 - 1699
Lineages Gelug and Buddhist
Size 48.90x36.83cm (19.25x14.50in)
Material Ground Mineral Pigment, Black Background on Cotton
Collection Rubin Museum of Art
Catalogue # acc.# P1999.13.12
Notes about the Central Figure

Classification: Deity

Appearance: Warrior

Gender: Male

Interpretation / Description

Tsangpa Karpo: wrathful worldly protector of Tibet.

White in colour (gold painted) with one face and two hands he holds upraised in the right a curved sword and in the left a vajra-tipped lasso and lance. Attired in the garb of a wariour, the head is crowned with a helmet topped with a white conch shell and peacock feathers. In the middle of the chest, marked with the Tibetan letter 'hrih,' is a golden mirror. Riding atop a dark brown horse, he is surrounded by flames of various colour and dark rolling smoke.

At the top center is the buddha Amitabha with the hands in meditation holding a begging bowl. A lama wearing a yellow hat sits directly below. At the top right is Padmasambhava. At the left is the 5th Dalai Lama holding a single white lotus in the right hand, wearing a yellow hat and meditation cloak. Various retinue figures fill the foreground.

Jeff Watt 10-2000

Reverse of Painting
Wylie Transliteration of Inscription: hrih mtsho skyes rdo rje blo bzang grags pa sogs/ rtsa brgyud bla ma''i bka'' dgos dran mdzad la// bdag cag dpon slob mi nor ltos bcas kun/ nyin mtshan dus drug srung skyabs sdong grog mdzod

dbang chen las rab stsal gyi bris//

Special Features: (Printed script (Uchen), is black, includes "Om Ah Hum" inscription)

Secondary Images
Related Items
Thematic Sets
Buddhist Protectors, Worldly Deities (Lokapala)
Painting Type: Black Ground Main Page
Collection of Rubin Museum of Art: Painting Gallery 8
Buddhist Protectors: Worldly (Gelug)
Subject: Mountain Gods & Local Deities
Buddhist Worldly Protector: Tsangpa Karpo (Masterworks)
Subject: Monks as Deities & Retinue Figures (Battle Monks & Protectors)
Collection of RMA: Black Ground Masterworks
Subject: Eight Wrathful Ones of the Gelug School
Buddhist Worldly Protector: Tsangpa Karpo Main Page