Geographic Region

Asia
Bhutan
Gandhara (ancient)
India & South Asia
Mongolia
Nepal
Tibet (China)


Subject

Academic Studies
Archaeology
Architecture
Arhats
Art & Iconography
Bardo: Intermediate State
Bibliography
Biography
Block Print Images
Calligraphy & Scripts
Conservation
Dance
Essays & Articles
Exhibitions Worldwide
Glossary Resources
Jataka Stories
Mahasiddha
Mandalas
Miscellaneous
Mural Paintings & Site Locations
Museums (Asia)
Museums (Europe)
Museums (North America)
Organizations
Painting
Photo Exhibits
Scholars Worldwide
Sculpture
Stupa: Sacred Reliquary
Symbols (Buddhist)
Textiles
Texts & Manuscripts
Topic Outline Pages
      Topic Outline Pages

*** Topic Outline Pages ***
Topic outlines are intended to visually contextualize the art and iconography of the Himalayas by grouping together the objects and imagery of related subjects.

*Museums & Institutions (Outline Page)
A listing of all the museums and institutions represented on the HAR web site.

Achala: The Unmoving
This also includes Chanda Maharoshana.

Amitabha/Amitayus: the Buddha with Two Names
Amitabha and Amitayus, although the same Buddha, are each represented differently in art. The first appears to be based on Mahayana scripture and the second on Tantra.

AMNH Quick Guide
A quick reference to all Himalayan and Central Asian art at the American Museum of Natural History.

Animal Headed Gods & Deities
Some deities are depicted with animal heads or faces representing the special qualities of those animals, or in some instances encapsulating an important narrative story.

Architecture in the Himalayas
Architecture as depicted in paintings and murals along with photos of structures represented in art.

Arhat: Art Topics
Paintings, textiles, sculpture and sets.

Arhat: Painting Sets
An attempt to organize and re-assemble all of the separated and broken sets of Arhat paintings scattered around the world.

Arhats: Linear List of Sets
A linear list of Arhat painting sets with links to the other Arhat Outline Pages.

Arhats: Worthy Ones
Arhats divided up by individual, sets, styles and more.

Avadana Stories
The Avadana stories: the previous lives of the Buddha and stories about the previous lives of his students and detractors.

Avalokiteshvara: Art Topics
Topics that are art specific such as medium, types, forms, etc.

Avalokiteshvara: Eleven Faces
There are many forms of the Eleven Faced Avalokiteshvara. It is necessary to have some tools and a methodology to keep them all clear without muddling them together.

Avalokiteshvara: Iconographic Forms
A look at the many different forms and appearances of Avalokiteshvara.

Bardo Deities: Peaceful & Wrathful
In Tibetan Buddhism Peaceful and Wrathful deities and Bardo deities are often the same.

Beijing, China (Outline Page)
Himalayan art, Museums, and a white marble Bodhgaya temple along with other art things to see in Beijing.

Bhutan: The Dragon Kingdom
A survey of popular Bhutanese art types and subjects.

Block Print Images
Prints are an important resource in the study of iconography because of the large sets of images produced. Many tangka painting sets and all prayer flag prints are made initially from wood blocks either directly applied or by using a ponce.

The Blue Annals
A religious history of Tibet from the early kings of the 1st millennium up to the 15th century. Authoured by Go Lotsawa Zhonnu Pal (1392-1481).

Blue Beryl Medical Charts
The famous medical charts known as the Blue Beryl (Baidurya Ngonpo) created under the direction of the Desi Sanggye Gyatso, regent to the 5th Dalai Lama, in the 17th century.

Bodhisattva
From the point of view of Himalayan art a bodhisattva is a term used to describe a peaceful god-like appearance based on the gods and deities of the classic Hindu pantheon.

Bon Art Topics
An overview of Bon religious and cultural art; painting, sculpture, wood carving, etc.

Bon Deities
Bon deities, like Buddhist and Hindu, are complex and confusing. This is a basic breakdown into peaceful, wrathful, male, female and protectors.

Bon Hats
Hats are a very important means of distinguishing different religious traditions and hierarchy.

Bon Religion
A survey of common art objects of the Bon religion and culture.

Book Covers
Book Covers are wooden boards, often decoratively carved and painted, serving as the top and bottom protective covers for folio manuscripts and block printed books from India to Siberia.

Buddha Realms & Purelands
Buddha realms are associated with a specific Buddha, purelands are associated with buddhas and bodhisattvas. Both of these terms become co-mingled with the phrase sacred lands when further discussing the land of Shambhala and Olmo Lungring of the Bon.

Buddhas, Who Are They?
The historical Buddha is somewhat understood, but who are all these other Buddhas? An attempt is made to categorize other Buddhas commonly represented in art.

Chakrasamvara: Art Topics
Selected masterworks, mediums and types.

Chakrasamvara: Deity Forms
Variations in iconography, related deities and special protectors.

Chakrasamvara: Tantra & Deity
The subject of Chakrasamvara - iconography and art.

Charts: Astological, Medical and Protective
All the varieties of charts including links to yantras.

Cityscapes & Monastery Paintings
Painted depictions of monasteries and cities as the central subject and as details in the surroundings.

Composition in Painting
There are approximately twelve different subject compositions in Himalayan art. If these twelve are understood then all Himalayan and Tibetan painting can be recognized and identified.

Couples in Art
It is common to see Shiva and Parvati as a couple but not always so for other figures in the Himalayan pantheon of deities and gods. Here is the short list of paired male and female partners and lovers.

Dalai Lama of Tibet
Sonam Gyatso (1543-1588) was the first to bear the title Dalai Lama, a line of successively re-incarnating teachers in Tibetan Buddhism. Gedun Drub and Gedun Gyatso, referred to as the first and second Dalai Lamas, were posthumously recognized as his predecessors. It was the 5th Dalai Lama, also known as the Great 5th, Ngagwang Lobzang Gyatso (1617-1682) that unified Tibet once again into a powerful empire and established the Ganden Podrang Government.

Divination
Divination and prognostication are important tools for determining a course of action or diagnosing an illness. There are many systems and techniques requiring such things as visualization, prayer beads, dice, a mountain lake, or even a sheep's shoulder blade.

Don Croner Quick Guide to Mongolia
If you have any interest in Mongolia at all, then you must wander through this web site.

Eight Fears (in Buddhism) Represented in Art
The eight fears are primarily associated with the deities Amoghapasha, Avalokiteshvara and Tara.

Ekajati: Single Braid
Ekajati was originally a semi-wrathful Indian Buddhist goddess. In Tibetan Buddhism she sheds her Indian appearance and adopts a new form characterized by one eye, one tooth and sometimes one breast and one leg.

Field of Accumulation
Field of Accumulation: often mistakenly translated from Tibetan to English as Refuge Tree because of confusion with the Tibetan word shing meaning tree and zhing meaning field, region or realm. The correct translation is Field of Accumulation or Refuge Field.

Footprints & Handprints
Footprints and handprints in Buddhist art, from India through the Himalayas and Tibet, to Wutaishan mountain in China.

Freer-Sackler Quick Guide
Freer + Sackler Galleries, Smithsonian, quick guide. A quick reference to all Himalayan and Central Asian art at the Freer + Sackler Galleries.

Ganapati/Ganesha
A look at the many different forms and appearances of Ganapati from the Buddhist and Hindu Traditions.

Garuda: The King of Birds
The Garuda is famous as the vehicle/companion of the Hindu god Vishnu, however the Garuda is also found in Buddhism and the Bon religion.

Gelugpa Buddhist Tradition
The Gelugpa Tradition is one of the four principal Schools of Tibetan Buddhism. It was founded by Lama Tsongkapa (1357-1419) who established the Ganden Monastery which became the principal seat of the school.

Gelugpa Hats
Hats are a very important means of distinguishing different religious traditions and hierarchy.

Guardian Kings of the Four Directions
The Four Guardian Kings are found throughout the Northern Buddhist World however they only really exist within two frameworks: together with Shakyamuni Buddha and the Sixteen Arhats and at the entrances to Buddhist temples.

Guhyasamaja: Buddhist Deity
A look at the many different forms and appearances of Guhyasamaja: blue Akshobhyavajra, oranage Manjuvajra and red Lokeshvara.

Guruyoga Images in Buddhist Tantric Traditions
Unique to Tantric Buddhism, guruyoga paintings are generally idealized depictions of religious teachers for the purposes of devotional meditation practice.

Handprints & Footprints
Handprints and footprints in Buddhist art, from India through the Himalayas and Tibet, to Wutaishan mountain in China.

HAR Site Map (black & white)
A black and white site map for those that like simplicity.

HAR Site Map (colour)
A colour site map for those that like colour.

Hats of the Himalayas
Hats are a very important means of distinguishing different religious traditions and hierarchy.

Hats, Miscellaneous
Hats are a very important means of distinguishing different religious traditions and hierarchy.

Hayagriva: Horse Headed Deity
A look at the many different forms and appearances of the horse headed Hayagriva: Secret Accomplishment, Very Secret, Heruka, Black, etc.

Hell: Subjects & Depictions
The subject of Hell and a look at the various types of hells, tortures and gruesome environments, along with hell beings and the servants of Yama.

Hevajra Tantra & Related Subjects
A look at the many different forms and appearances of Hevajra, the source texts and related deities.

Hindu Gods & Deities
The Hindu gods, male and female and other subjects commonly found in Himalayan art.

Hindu Religion
The important Hindu subjects represented in Himalayan art: painting, sculpture, ritual objects and illuminations.

Huntington Archive Quick Guide
The John C. and Susan L. Huntington Photographic Archive of Buddhist and Related Art contains nearly 300,000 original color slides and black and white and color photographs of art and architecture throughout Asia. Countries covered in the collection include India, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Thailand, Indonesia, Myanmar (Burma), China, and Japan.

Iconography Source Texts
Lists and inventories of popular collections of deity practices and protector rituals.

Iconography: Deities
The most common, popular or interesting deities of Hinduism, Buddhism and the Bon religion.

Iconography: How to identify a deity image
Basic things to know about iconography.

Iconography: Subjects
The principal themes and subjects found in paintings and sculpture along with ritual objects, dance, prints, etc.

Iconography: What are the colours?
Colours play an important role in art depictions, symbolism and meaning.

Iconography: What are gestures and hand attributes?
A very preliminary look at gestures (mudra) in painting and sculpture.

Iconography: What are postures?
Seeing the various ways the deity figures stand, sit or fly.

Iconography: What is body configuration?
A preliminary look at the complex forms of Tantric deities from a one faced, two armed deity figure, all the way up to a goddess with a thousand faces and a thousand hands and a thousand legs.

Iconography: What is gender?
Some clues in distinguishing between male and female forms in Himalayan style art.

Iconography: What is mood?
In Tantric Buddhism there are three basic moods exhibited by the various deities: peaceful, semi-peaceful/semi-wrathful and wrathful.

Illuminated Manuscripts & Calligraphy
Illuminations are small or miniature paintings, often figures or narrative scenes, used to decorate the pages of books. Calligraphy is the study of writing systems.

Incarnation Lineage Paintings
Depictions of lines of incarnate teachers in sets of paintings is very common and made more common by the widespread copying of popular sets from locations such as Nartang, Tibet.

India: Tibet House Museum, New Delhi (Quick Guide)
A quick reference to all paintings, sculpture and ritual objects in the Tibet House Museum, New Delhi, India.

India: The Tibet Museum
The Tibet museum was established with the aim of presenting Tibet's history and visions for its future through texts, photographs, videos and installations. Quick Guide Outline.

Initiation Cards
There are tens of thousands of different types of initiation cards. Tantric ceremonies and initiations generally require physical symbols, as paintings or objects, to represent the imagined forms of deities and the accompanying philosophical concepts.

Jambhala, Wealth Deity
A look at the many different forms and appearances of the wealth deity Jambhala: yellow, white, red and black, solitary, in union, etc.

Jataka Stories
The Jataka (Birth) stories, the previous lives of Shakyamuni Buddha. The stories read like parables and many of the central characters are animals.

Jonang Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism
A first look at bringing Jonang created art and subjects into a structured survey.

Kagyu Hats
Hats are a very important means of distinguishing different religious traditions and hierarchy. The Kagyu Traditions seem to have more styles of hats than any of the other Tibetan traditions.

Kagyu, Marpa, Buddhist Tradition
The Marpa Kagyu, or Kagyu School, is one of the four major Buddhist Traditions of Tibet. It was founded by Marpa Chokyi Lodro, the Translator (1012-1096).

Kagyu: Karma Kagyu Hats
Hats are a very important means of distinguishing different religious traditions and hierarchy: Karmapa, Shamar, Situ, Gyatsab and Nenang Pawo.

Kalachakra: The Wheel of Time
A look at the many different forms and appearances of Kalachakra, Shambhala, lineage teachers and the protector Vajravega.

Karmapa: Incarnation Lineage
The Karmapas are a line of successive teachers acknowledged as the first lineage of reincarnating lamas in Tibetan Buddhism. The main seat of the Karmapa is Tsurpu Monastery, north-west of Lhasa, and the specific tradition is known as the Kamtsang Kagyu (Karma Kagyu).

Kings: Buddhist, Hindu & Bon
Kings are an important subject type found in painting and sculpture of Himalayan art. Depicted as royal figures, Kings wear turban-like crowns, layered in sumptuous robes and boots, and sit on lavish decorative thrones.

Kurukulla: Goddess of Power
A complicated subject in Buddhist iconography, Kurukulla seems simple, but no, she arises from several different Sanskrit texts and has numerous forms and lineage traditions. She can be associated with Kriya Tantra and also with Anuttarayoga Tantra.

Lamdre Lineage (Margapala) Art Sets
The teaching lineage of the Lamdre (the Path Together with the Result) presented as painting and sculpture sets.

Lhasa, Tibet
A survey of the museums, architecture and temples of Lhasa and the surrounding area.

Life Story Painting Sets
Depictions of life stories in one composition or in a set of paintings are a common theme in Tibetan art. Knowing the subjects of these stories is an important key to unlocking the complexities of Himalayan art.

Longchen Nyingtig Art & Imagery
Imagery related to the Buddhist teaching inspired by Longchenpa Drime Ozer and systematized by Jigme Lingpa.

Mahakala, Buddhist Protector
An initial survey looking at the many different forms and appearances of Mahakala.

Mahakala, Panjarnata
The different forms, retinue figures and lineages of Panjaranata Mahakala

Mahakala, Shadbhuja (Six Hands)
A look at the many different forms and appearances of the specific six armed Mahakala, an emanation of Avalokiteshvara, from the Eight Chapter Mahakala Tantra.

Mahamaya: Great Illusion
The deity Mahamaya originates in the Sanskrit text of the Mahamaya Tantra and is further found in the Tibetan compilation collections of the Vajravali, Mitra Gyatsa, Rinjung Gyatsa and Rinjung Lhantab.

Mahasiddha
Mahasiddhas are great accomplished ones, or great [spiritually] accomplished ones, also known as Indian adepts, the principal Indian teachers of Hindu and Buddhist Tantra, or any great religious teacher that is credited with having special attainments and powers.

Maitreya Bodhisattva, Future Buddha
A look at the tradition forms of Maitreya, types and attributes.

Mandala-like Circular Forms
Some visual objects that look like mandalas but are not and other forms which can be mandalas based on a broader definition.

Mandala: Art Topics
Mandala: a circular diagram, highly technical and precise, representing the entire universe; the container and contained, animate and inanimate. Mandalas are painted on cloth, on the ceilings of temples, as murals, fashioned from metal, wood or stone, sometimes coloured threads and also from coloured sand.

Mandala: Textual Sets & Traditions
Approaching mandalas from the textual tradition, sets of paintings and the religious traditions.

Mandalas! What are Mandalas?
Answering some of the basic questions about mandalas.

Manjushri: Buddhist Deity of Wisdom
A look at the many different forms and appearances of Manjushri the patron deity of wisdom and learning.

Manjushri: Tantra Sets
Through the categories of the four Tantra sets, a look at the many different forms and appearances of the wisdom deity Manjushri from the simple to the complex.

Marichi: Goddess of the Dawn
Marichi has a very large number of forms. The most consistent features are a pig face, riding atop a pig, or seated in a chariot drawn by pigs or horses.

Medical Charts: Blue Beryl
The famous medical charts known as the Blue Beryl (Baidurya Ngonpo) created under the direction of the Desi Sanggye Gyatso, regent to the 5th Dalai Lama, in the 17th century.

Medicine & Tantric Healing
Health, medicine and miracle cures all figure prominently in the art of the Himalayas which divides easily into two types: traditional medicine and Tantric healing.

Medicine Buddha
Forms of the Buddha, sources, lineage and related subjects.

MET Quick Guide
Metropolitan Museum of Art quick guide to all Himalayan, Tibetan and Central Asian art and resources, especially the useful Timeline.

Metaphor & Simile in Tantric Imagery
Metaphor is unique to the most complex of Buddhist Tantric meditational systems and corresponding visual aids (art). Common themes from life and society are used as the dominant organizing principle for entire systems of philosophy and advanced meditation techniques.

Milarepa: Poet & Saint
Milarepa, the greatest poet saint of Tibet, referred to as the cotton-clad ascetic. He is immortalized in a biography and a text named the 100,000 Songs.

Mongolia
Art, paintings, sculpture and ritual objects from various museum and private collections worldwide along with the Zababazar Museum of Fine Arts.

Mongolia National Fine Arts Museum (Quick Guide)
A quick reference to all painting, sculpture, and galleries at the Mongolia National Fine Arts Museum.

Mountain Deities of the Himalayas
Sacred geography is often personified as mountain deities and ancient clans are linked through ancestry to specific mountains and lakes.

Murals of Other Regions
Murals from regions outside of Tibet such as Mustang, Kashmir, India, China and Bhutan.

Murals of Tibet
Murals are the heart and breath of Tibetan painting and serve as an anchor for the study of Himalayan and Tibetan Art History.

Nepal
A survey of popular Nepalese art types and subjects, primarily of the Kathmandu Valley.

Nepal Locations Quick Guide (Huntington Archive)
Place names primarily in the Kathmandu Valley with links to the art found at those locations.

Nepal: Art of Nepal
A navigation aid for locating all Nepalese art on the HAR website; categorized by medium, type and time periods.

New York City Quick Guide
A quick guide to all of the Himalayan art resources in New York city and surrounding areas.

Newar Buddhism Quick Guide (Huntington Archive)
The Art of Newar Buddhism, Nepal, is quick outline for easily accessing the thousands of catalogued images in the Huntington Archive - the best visual resource on the Web.

Nyingma Hats
Hats are a very important means of distinguishing different religious traditions and hierarchy. The Nyingma basically only have two types of hats: pandita hat and lotus hat, everything else is for the most part a variation of these two.

Padmasambhava
Credited as one of the three principal individuals to bring Buddhism to Tibet in the 8th century along with the Abbot Shantarakshita and King Trisong Detsen, Padmasambhava is represented in many forms and aspects.

Padmasambhava: Eight Forms
Padmasambhava and the Eight Forms (manifestations) representing various periods from his life story in single paintings, sets of paintings and sculpture.

Padmasambhava: Meditational Forms
Padmasambhava is represented in art as both a human teacher and a deity with numerous meditational forms.

Painting Ground Colour
Aside from the common multi-coloured paintings, there are three unique types of coloured ground found in Himalayan and Tibetan paintings. These three colours are used to invoke mood and emotion.

Painting Sets: A Unique Feature of Buddhist Art
Sets are a unique feature of Tibetan and Himalayan Buddhist painting. Sets are also a key in recognizing the systems of iconography and teaching lineages portrayed in painting and sculpture.

Painting Styles in Tibetan Art
Categorizing and naming the regional styles, varieties and traditions of Tibetan painting is a complex and ongoing task.

Panchen Lama
The Panchen Lamas, closely associated with the Dalai Lamas and the monastery of Tashi Lhunpo, are a line of successively re-incarnating teachers in Tibetan Buddhism. The first Panchen Lama, Lobzang Chokyi Gyaltsen, was the tutor of the 5th Dalai Lama and the most important Gelugpa teacher of his time.

Parnashavari: Healing Goddess
The Forest Goddess Parnashavari, associated with healing, is an example of an Indian folk deity absorbed into Tantric Buddhism.

Peaceful & Wrathful Deities (Shitro, Bardo)
In Tibetan Buddhism Peaceful and Wrathful deities and Bardo deities are often the same.

Persons Historical
Real people idealized (or portraiture) in painting and sculpture in an attempt to differentiate from figures that are deities and gods.

Pilgrimage & Sacred Sites
Sacred sites are common to Buddhists, Hindus and Bonpo of the Himalayas, Tibet and Central Asia. Sometimes these locations are depicted in art and the sacred mountain gods and deities are portrayed in the idealized landscape.

Portrait Images in Himalayan Art
Paintings and sculpture created and crafted to look like the person being portrayed.

Power Deities in Tantric Buddhism
Power is the third of the four main activity categories of Tantric Buddhism: Peaceful, Increasing, Powerful and Wrathful. Male and female deities are typically red in colour and semi-wrathful in appearance.

Prajnaparamita Text: Block Print Images
A careful grouping of all the different images and sets contained in the Prajnaparamita carved wood block manuscript from pre-1959 Lhasa, Tibet. This is also the same text published by Lokesh Chandra in 'Buddhist Iconography.'

Prajnaparamita: Mother of Wisdom
The personification of the Prajnaparamita Literature as depicted in paintings, sculpture and illuminations on manuscript pages.

Prayer Flags & Banners
Prayer Flag: a printed image on paper or cotton cloth intended to be thrown into the wind or fixed in place where the wind blows. The flags often contain prayers and mantras along with images of deities and animals. Prayer Flags are common in the popular practice of both the Buddhist and Bon religions.

Private Collections & Photo Archives
A listing of all of the non-museum and non-institution art that appears on the HAR web site belonging to private collectors.

Protector Deities, Buddhist
Protector deities provide protection. Within the four main activity categories Protectors generally belong to the fourth, Wrathful. Male and female figures are typically blue-black in colour and fearsome in appearance.

Protectors of the Sakya Tradition
A listing of the various protectors considered important in the Sakya Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism.

Publications Catalogued on HAR
Publications with large collections of art and iconographic images are slowly being added to the HAR database. When copyright permission is not granted then a placecard holder image is used for each art work catalogued in the database.

Religious Traditions of Tibet
Although Buddhism is the dominant religious tradition it is however divided into nearly a dozen different traditions. Aside from Buddhism there is the non-Buddhist religion of Bon and a small population of Muslims.

Resource Tools for Scholars
A set of useful links for academic sites, Tibetan language, various scripts, maps, calendars, and more.

Rinjung Lhantab Collection of Deities
The Mongolian manuscript depictions of the Rinjung Lhantab of the Panchen Lama.

Ritual Objects
Although generally not counted as fine art, ritual objects make up a significant portion of objects found in museum and private collections.

RMA Quick Guide
A quick reference to all Himalayan, Central Asian, and Indian art at the Rubin Museum of Art.

Sakya Buddhist Tradition
Sakya School of Tibetan Buddhism: named after an auspicious white patch of earth visible on the side of a mountain in south-western Tibet. A temple was founded by the Khon family in 1074.

Sakya Hats
Hats are a very important means of distinguishing different religious traditions and hierarchy.

Sakya Monasteries & Branch Schools
Visually mapping the complex structure of the Sakya Tradition, the monasteries and all of the branch schools.

Sarasvati: Goddess of Eloquence & Poetry
Looking at the forms found in both Hindu and Buddhist art.

Sculpture: Types & Subjects
Sculpture: three dimensional objects made from metal, stone, wood, clay, etc., generally depicting kings, religious teachers, deities, and ritual objects.

Shakyamuni Buddha
Shakyamuni Buddha (English: the Enlightened One, Sage of the Shakya Clan), founder of the Buddhist religion, born in Lumbini, reached enlightenment at Bodhgaya, taught at Sarnath and passed away at Kushinagar.

Shakyamuni Buddha & Arhats Schematic
A schematic mapping the relationships between Shakyamuni, Shariputra, Maudgalyayana, the Sixteen Arhats, Dharmatala, Hvashang and the Four Guardian Kings.

Shakyamuni Buddha: Twelve Deeds
Comparing the various life story painting sets and single compositions with the traditional telling of the twelve deeds of the Buddha.

Shambhala Kings
Investigating the different ways to depict the Shambhala Kings and the numerous sets of paintings in both Royal Appearance and Deity Appearance.

Shambhala Kings: Deity Appearance
Listing and accounting for all of the sets of paintings depicting Deity Appearance.

Shambhala Kings: Royal Appearance
Listing and accounting for all of the sets of paintings depicting Royal Appearance.

Shanglon Dorje Dudul: Buddhist Terma Protector
A look at the three main forms and appearances of the wrathful protector Dorje Dudul arising from the Nyingma Treasure 'Terma' Tradition. This protector is especially associated with the Tibetan Medical Tradition.

Shangpa Kagyu Buddhist Tradition
The Shangpa lineage was founded by Kedrup Khyungpo Naljor in the 11th century at approximately the same time as the birth of the Sakya and Kagyu Schools and shortly after the Kadampa of Jowo Atisha. The Shangpa School is unrelated to the Kagyu School of Marpa the Translator although both share the name 'ka gyu' which means 'oral lineage.'

Shiva Maheshvara and Family
An overview of the Shiva and Parvati family including children, animal mounts and common attributes.

Shri Devi: Buddhist Protector
A look at the many different forms and appearances of the wrathful female protector Shri Devi.

Simhamukha: Lion Faced Dakini
Simhamukha originated in India and is associated with the Chakrasamvara Tantra. Bari Lotsawa brought the practice to Tibet in the 11th century.

Situ Panchen Chokyi Jungne
Chokyi Gyaltsen (1337-1448) was the first to bear the title of Tai Situ, which was given to him by the Chinese emperor Yung Lo of the Ming Dynasty. Situ Panchen Chokyi Jungne was particularly important in the development of Tibetan art for his creation of a new painting style and numerous sets of paintings that have influenced Tibetan painting to this day.

The Six Ornaments & Two Excellent Ones
The Six Ornaments and Two Excellent Ones of the Southern Continent is an epithet given to the most important Indian Buddhist scholars of the Mahayana Tradition. The two foremost are Nagarjuna, founder of the Madyamaka tradition, and Asanga, founder of the Yogachara tradition.

Snakes & Serpents
Nagas, Nagarjuna, Nagaraksha and more, looking at snakes and serpents in art, visual narrative and symbolism.

Stupa: Reliquary Mounds
Arising historically from the chaitya (funerary mounds) of early Buddhism and symbolically from the tope (ushnisha), bundle of hair, on the crown of the Buddha's head, the stupa is viewed as a physical representation of the unseen enlightened mind of a Buddha - incorporating both the blueprint for the path to enlightenment and enlightenment itself.

Symbols: Common Buddhist Symbol Sets
The most common sets such as the Eight Auspicious Symbols, Four Harmonious Friends, animals, jewels and offerings.

Tangka: Scroll Paintings & Textiles
'Tangka' the Tibetan word used to describe a variety of painted and textile artworks (applique, embroidered, etc.), done with, or on cloth.

Tara, Red: Deity of Power
A look at the specific forms of the power deity Red Tara.

Tara, White: Bestowing Long Life
A look at the specific forms of the long life deity White Tara.

Tara: Female Buddha
A look at the many different forms and appearances of the female Buddha Tara, possibly the most popular goddess of the Himalayas and Tibetan regions.

Tara: the Five Systems of Twenty-one
There are five different systems that describe the Twenty-one Taras: [1] Suryagupta, [2] Atisha, [3] Sadhana-samucchaya, [4] Longchen Nyingtig, and [5] Chogyur Lingpa.

TBRC Quick Guide
Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center.

Textiles: Applique, Embroidery, Weaving
A survey of all the most common textile arts of the Himalayas.

THDL Quick Guide
Tibetan Himalayan Digital Library. A Quick Guide highlighting art topics and image galleries.

Thirteen Golden Dharmas of Sakya
Thirteen or more special deity practices commonly represented in art and originally acquired through the payment of gold.

Tools: The Five Most Powerful Tools
The most powerful tools on the HAR site for searching and researching art and iconography topics.

Trees: The Sacred & The Artistic
Trees are used as the backdrop for births, seated Buddhas, fields of accumulation and attributes held in the hands of deities.

Tseringma: Tibetan Mountain Goddess
Depictions of Tseringma and her four sisters along with various Terma forms and relating her to the life story of Milarepa.

Tsongkapa: Founder of the Gelugpa Tradition
Lama Tsongkapa (1357-1419) was the founder of the Gelugpa School of Tibetan Buddhism. He established the Ganden Monastery which became the principal seat of the school.

Vaishravana: Direction Guardian & Protector Deity
A first attempt at trying to visually catalogue the fifteen forms of Vaishravana.

Vajrabhairava: Buddhist Deity
A look at the many different forms and appearances of the wrathful meditational deity Vajrabhairava.

Vajradhara: the Primordial Buddha
Vajradhara as he appears in the context of lineages and the Eighty-four mahasiddhas.

Vajrakila: Buddhist Deity
A look at the many different forms and appearances of Vajrakila principally from the Eight Pronouncement Deities, the Sakya Tradition and the Terma 'Treasure' Tradition, along with forms from the Bon religion.

Vajrapani: Bodhisattva & Meditational Deity
A look at the many different forms and appearances of the bodhisattva and deity Vajrapani, peaceful and wrathful, complex and simple.

Vajrasattva: Deity of Purification
Vajrasattva is a commonly depicted figure that gets more complicated when compared to other deities with a similar appearance such as Vajradhara, Vajrapani and Vajravidarana.

Vajravali Cycle of Initiations / Deities
Various sets of mandalas created over half a millenium and based on the famous text called the Vajravali compiled in the 11th century by Abhayakaragupta.

Vajravidarana: Reversing Karma
A deity whose appearance is often confused with Vajrasattva and others.

Vajrayogini: Buddhist Deity
A look at the many different forms and appearances of Vajrayogini, Varahi, Krodha Kali Kali, Chinnamasta and others.

Vasudhara: Buddhist Wealth Deity
A look at the many different forms and appearances of the wealth deity Vasudhara, two arms, six arms, yellow or red in colour.

Vishnu: The Solar God
Forms of the god Vishnu, the ten avatars, wives, attributes, attendant and related figures.

Wealth Deities: Buddhist
Wealth deity images and practices in Tantric Buddhism are wholly concerned with the increase of wealth and physical comforts. Within the four main activity categories Wealth Deities belong to the second category, Increasing. Male and female figures are typically white, yellow or orange in colour and peaceful in appearance.

Weird & Fantastical Gods & Deities!
Buddhism, Hinduism and the Bon religion are populated with strange and colourful deities, but like all things some deities are stranger than others!

Wheel of Life (Samsara Chakra)
A look at the the different formats and painting types used to depict the the Buddhist Wheel of Life concept and the various realms of existence.

Wisdom Deities: Buddhist
Wisdom deity images and practices in Tantric Buddhism are wholly concerned with the increase of wisdom and learning. Within the four main activity categories Wisdom Deities belongs to the second, Increasing. Male and female figures are typically white, yellow or orange in colour and peaceful in appearance.

Yama Dharmaraja
The various forms of the special protector associated with the Vajrabhairava Tantra practices.

Yamari, Krishna
The black killer of death; another wrathful form of Manjushri.

Yamari, Rakta
The red killer of death, an emanation of Manjushri made popular by the siddha Virupa.