Himalayan Art Resources

Item: Stupa (Buddhist Reliquary) - Painting

མཆོད་རྟེན། 佛塔
(item no. 100004)
Origin Location Nepal
Date Range 1500 - 1599
Lineages Buddhist
Size 60.33x79.38cm (23.75x31.25in)
Material Ground Mineral Pigment on Cotton
Collection Rubin Museum of Art
Catalogue # acc.# P1994.15.3
Notes about the Central Figure

Classification: Object/Concept

Interpretation / Description

Sanskrit: Chaitya Tibetan: Chor ten

Stupa (English: reliquary mound) symbolizing the ultimate state of a buddha - the dharmakaya - truth body. In the domed center is the goddess Prajnaparamita. Below that is the buddha Akshobhya on the lowest layered tier. At the bottom center is the wrathful bodhisattva Vajrapani surrounded by donor figures. At the top center are the Five Celestial Buddhas flanked by two bodhisattvas.

Jeff Watt 3-2001

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Thematic Sets
Collection: Private 22
Stupa (Chaitya): Main Page
Collection of Rubin Museum of Art: Nepal
Nepal: Buddhism
Nepal: Stupas
Stupa: Painting, Textile & Print
Nepal: Late Mala Period Painting
Painting Set Comparables: Stupas of Kathmandu