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Bardo: Intermediate State
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Conservation
Dance
Essays & Articles
Exhibitions Worldwide
Glossary Resources
Jataka Stories
Mahasiddha
Mandalas
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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
      Tibet (China)

(1996) The Mystical Arts of Tibet
Featuring personal sacred objects of the Dalai Lama (1996, 1998).

(1997) Mandala: The Architecture of Enlightenment
Devoted to the multiple manifestations of the mandala throughout Asia. (The Asia Society).

(1997) Tibet: Tradition and Change
An exhibit of the Albuquerque Museum. Text by Dr.Pratap Pal.

(1997) The Tibetan Book of the Dead
Literature and artwork on prayer, ritual and meditation from the religious traditions of Tibet, India and Nepal.

(1998) Mirrors of the Heart Mind
The Rezk Collection of Tibetan Art from the Permanent Collection of the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art.

(1998) Sacred Visions
Early Paintings from Central Tibet. Steven M. Kossack & Jane Casey Singer (The Metropolitan Museum of Art).

(1999) The Sculptural Heritage of Tibet
Sculpture: Buddhist Art in the Nyingjei Lam Collection, an exhibition at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (1999).

(2002) Desire and Devotion
Art from India, Nepal, and Tibet in the John and Berthe Ford Collection. Introduction by Pratapaditya Pal.

(2003) Circle of Bliss: Buddhist Meditational Art
(Los Angeles County Museum of Art & Columbus Museum of Art)

(2004) Tibet, Mountains and Valleys, Castles and Tents
Exhibition at Anchorage Museum Association, 121 W. 7th Ave., Anchorage, AK 99501. (See archived exhibitions).

(2004) Tibet, Treasures From the Roof of the World
The exhibition will feature objects drawn exclusively from collections from the Dalai Lama's magnificent residence at the Potala Palace, as well as the recently established Tibet Museum in the magical Tibetan capital of Lhasa.

(2007) Tibetan Literary Arts
Smith College, USA. Neilson & Hillyer Libraries.

(2007-2009) Tibetan Arms and Armor from the Permanent Collection
Metropolitan Museum of Art.

(ACIP) Graphics Library
Block prints, line drawings and designs.

A Thang ka Portrait of 'Bri gung rin chen dpal, 'Jig rten gsum mgon (1143-1217)
by Amy Heller. Abstract: With this thang ka one can categorically identify ?Jig rten mgon po, also known as ?Bri gung rin chen dpal or ?Jig rten gsum mgon (1143-1217), as the principal subject of a thang ka due to the fact that the inscription is written on the reverse of the canvas.

Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajnāpāramitā Manuscript from the Yarlung Museum
by Eva Allinger. This Manuscript was on display from 19 August to 26 November 2006 This Manuscript was on display from 19 August to 26 November 2006 during "Tibet - Kl?ster ?ffnen ihre Schatzkammern", an exhibition at Villa H?gel, Essen. It is catalogued as No. 26, pp. 219-225.

Akara : A Quest For Perfect Form
From the Lentsa and the Wartu scripts that Thonmi Sambhota and his co-scholars brought to Tibet about the 7th century A.D., are descended the chief styles of Tibetan writing.

Alexandra David-Neel Cultural Centre
the Alexandra David-Neel Cultural Centre for Franco-Tibetans Cultural Exchanges.

An Exhibition of Tibetan Calligraphy
Forty-six works written in ink on paper by P. N. Dhumkhang

An exhibition of Tibetan Calligraphy
Forty-six works written in ink on paper by P. N. Dhumkhang. Text and captions by Roberto Vitali.

The Ancient Amulets of Tibet: Thogchags
Thogchags: A collection of Miniature Masterpieces by John Vincent Bellezza.

The Ancient Amulets of Tibet: Thogchags
A collection of Miniature Masterpieces. By John Vincent Bellezza.

Ancient Tibet, Photographs
A portfolio of 20 haunting black and white photographs primarily made by Sonam Gyatso Thartse Ken Rinpoche (1930-1988), abbot of Ngor Monastery in Tibet in the early 50's.

Asian Classics Input Project
Release IV, A Thousand Books of Wisdom.

Asian Classics Input Project: Block Prints
A database of wood block carvings and captions.

Auspicious Carpets: A Tibetan View of Aesthetics
Asian Art Website. This article first appeared in The Nepalese-Tibetan Carpet, edited by John Frederick, a special issue for the carpet trade published by Nepal Traveller, January 1993.

Background on Funerary Buddhism

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.

Block Prints as Clip Art
Common Tibetan symbols and motifs as clip art.

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 Annals by Go Lotsawa Zhonnu Pal
The Blue Annals (deb ther sngon po) is one of the most famous and important of Tibetan historical surveys. Its focus is on the history of the spread of Tibetan Buddhism, and it is remarkable for its ecumenical scope covering many different sectarian traditions. The author, Translator G?lo Zh?nnupel ('gos lo gzhon nu dpal, 1392-1481), composed this work in only a few years, completing it in 1476 at age 84.

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.

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.

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.

Buddhist Art & Architecture
Tangkas, mandalas, mudras and stupas.

Buddhist Art & Architecture: Symbolism of the Stupa / Chorten
The perfect proportions of the Buddha's body corresponds to the design of religious monuments.

Buddhist Artifacts as the Support of Spiritual Realization
Enlightened Journey: Buddhist Practice as Daily Life. By Tulku Thondup, edited by Harold Talbot. Shambhala: Boston London, 2001.

Buddhist Artifacts as the Support of Spiritual Realization
by Tulku Thondup. Enlightened Journey: Buddhist Practice as Daily Life. By Tulku Thondup, edited by Harold Talbot. Shambhala: Boston London, 2001.

Buddhist Block Print Images
Public domain FTP site with block print images containing an excellent collection of Tantric deities.

Buddhist Symbols
Line drawings of the most common Buddhist symbols.

Caring For Thangkas
An online exhibit at the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco.

Cast For Eternity
Bronze masterworks from India and the Himalayas.

The Ch'am Masked Dance Festival
These photos were taken in Tibet by members of the Tolstoy expedition of 1942-43.

China Exploration & Research Society (CERS) and Kham Aid Foundation

Chortens in Amdo by Rob Linrothe
Architectural reliquaries housing relics are known in Tibetan as chortens, and in Sanskrit as either stupas or chaityas. In the region of northeast ethnographic Tibet known as Amdo, there are chortens in a variety of sizes, shapes and styles.

Chortens in Amdo: A Photographic Album
by Rob Linrothe, photographed between January and March 2002.

Chronological Conundrums in the Life of Khyung po rnal 'byor: Hagiography and Historical Time
by Matthew T. Kapstein.

Coiffe de Pandit by Etienne Bock
Coiffe de Pandit by Etienne Bock, an informative article on Indian and Tibetan pandita hats used by Buddhists along with reference to the Bon religion. This is a large Pdf file and in French.

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.

The Conservation of Tibetan Thangkas
A group of five symposium papers.

Conserving Tibetan Art and Architecture
China Exploration & Research Society (CERS) and Kham Aid Foundation.

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.

The Dancing Monks of Tengboche
Every year, in the Khumbu region of Nepal, this Buddhist Dance Drama is enacted by the monks of Tengboche Monastery.

The Decoration of Tibetan Arms and Armor
Metropolitan Museum of Art Essay Topics.

Demons and Deities: Masks of the Himalayas
Part I: Tribal and Shamanic masks. Part II: The Spread of Buddhism. By Thomas Murray. Photography by Don Tuttle.

The Development & Symbolism of Tibetan Buddhist Art & Iconography
by Peter Della Santina.

The Development and Symbolism of Tibetan Buddhist Art and Iconography
by Peter Della Santina.

Digital Himalaya
A pilot project to develop digital collection, storage, and distribution strategies for multimedia anthropological information from the Himalayan region.

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.

Drathang Monastery
(Restoration project)

Early Portrait Painting in Tibet
The function and meaning of Buddhist art, by Jane Casey Singer.

Early Tibetan Mandalas
14 fine Tibetan paintings of mandalas dating from the 13th to the 16th centuries. (The Rossi Collection).

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.

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.

The Giant Thangkas of Tsurphu Monastery
Giant silk applique hangings for public display and worship, by Terris Temple and Leslie Nguyen.

Gongkar Chode Monastery
(Restoration project)

The Great Applique Tangka of Drepung Monastery
by Nancy Jo Johnson.

Guardians of the Sacred World
Book Covers: Celebrating the splendour of Tibetan manuscript covers, by Rossi & Rossi.

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.

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.

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

Himalayan Art Resources
The mission of Himalayan Art Resources website is to create a comprehensive research database, a virtual museum, of Himalayan and Tibetan art.

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

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.

Images of Earth and Water
Tsa Tsa: the Tsa-Tsa Votive Tablets of Tibet by Juan Li.

Images of Kham
Photographs by Joseph Duane & Tashi Duane

Images of Lost Civilization
The Ancient Rock Art of Upper Tibet by John Vincent Bellezza.

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.

Intent, In Tents and Intense
Thangkas are composite objects produced by painters and tailors with differing intents, by Ann Shaftel.

International Dunhuang Project
IDP is a ground-breaking international collaboration to make more than 100,000 manuscripts, paintings and artefacts from Dunhuang and other Silk Road sites freely available on the Internet with top quality colour images.

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.

The John C. & Susan L.Huntington Archive of Buddhist and Related Art
A photographic research and teaching archive.

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 Bibliography
Originally published as Berzin, Alexander. Taking the Kalachakra Initiation. Ithaca, Snow Lion, 1997.

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).

Kham Aid Foundation
Conservation of Art and Architecture.

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.

The Koelz Collection
70 Tangkas. The University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology.

The Kora of the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa Tibet
Images and text by Amina Tirana, 1995.

The Kora of the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa Tibet
These photographs are part of a project that documents the kora.

Kotan Publishing
Introducing new and exciting Asian literature and artwork to the rest of the world.

The Lhasa gTsug lag khang : Observations on the Ancient Wood Carvings
By Amy Heller. This article was first published in the Tibet Journal, Vol XXIX, No 3; Autumn 2004, and is presented here with the kind permission of the editors.

The Lhasa gtsug lag khang: Further Observations on the Ancient wood Carvings
The author comments on an article also found in Asianart.com. Please see: The Lhasa gtsug lag khang: Observations on the Ancient wood Carvings by Amy Heller.

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

The Library of Tibetan Works and Archives
The LTWA is one of the most important institutions in the world dedicated to the preservation and dissemination of Tibetan culture.

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.

Lineages and Structure in Tibetan Buddhist Painting: Principles and Practice of an Ancient Sacred Choreography
by David P. Jackson.

Lost Treasures of Tibet
A crack restoration team tries to prevent medieval Buddhist murals from crumbling into dust.

Lost Treasures of Tibet
A crack restoration team tries to prevent medieval Buddhist murals from crumbling into dust. Click here to watch a related video on google.

The Lukhang Temple
(Restoration project)

The Lukhang: A Hidden Temple inTibet
A small pagoda-roofed temple on a lake behind the Potala palace, by Ian Baker and Thomas Laird.

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.

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.

Mandala and Temple Sacred Architecture in Tibet
Photographs by John Milton Lundquist.

Mandala and Temple Sacred Architecture in Tibet: Photographs
By John Milton Lundquist. Tibet is also a land of "power places," as a Tibetan phrase expresses: mountains, valleys, rocks, caves, rivers and lakes are scattered with sacred Buddhist structures such as temples, chapels within monasteries and chortens, which are shrines also known as stupas.

Mandala: Buddhist Tantric Diagrams
Representations of the spiritual embodiment of the Buddha are dkyil khor, or mandalas. The word dkyil khor means "center-circumference," and describes both the essential geometric structure and ritual significance of 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.

Maps of Central Tibet
The Tibet Map Institute presents a unique map series of Central Tibet.

Mead Art Museum
The Mead Museum located at Amherst College, Massachusetts, museum has 18 Himalayan and Tibetan art paintings along with a number of three dimensional artifacts.

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.

Metal and Stone Vestiges: Religion, Magic and Protection in the Art of Ancient Tibet
By John Vincent Bellezza. The art of Tibet reaches deep into prehistory. Before the advent of Buddhism in the 7th century A.D., metalworking, painting and carving on stone were already well developed and had assumed a fair degree of refinement.

The Metal Sculpture of the Khasa Mallas of West Nepal/ West Tibet
By Ian Alsop

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.

Moderm Tibetan Calligraphy : Gallery Exhibition
Examples of modern Tibetan calligraphy; religious, secular and stylized.

The Murals of Baiya Monastery
A mixture of stylistic influences from within and outside Tibet by Jonathan S. Bell.

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.

The Mystical Arts of Tibet
Mandala Sand Painting. Gallery V Live Camera. Berea College.

Namseling Manor
(Restoration project)

New Archaeological Discovories In Tibet
A series of pre-Buddhist archaeological sites in western Tibet by John Vincent Bellezza.

Norbulingka Institute
Preserving Tibetan Culture: painting, handicrafts, publications, etc.

Northern Tibet Exploration
Archaeological Discovories of the Changthang Circuit Expedition 1999 by John Vincent Bellezza.

Notes on a Taglung Portrait
A religious hierarch from the Taglung branch of the Kagyu order by Jane Casey Singer. (Please see a similar Taglung Portrait and two lamas in one portrait in the database of this web page).

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.

The Nyingma Icons:
Au Leshe's Line Drawings of Dudjom Rimpoche's Lineages.

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.

Pagpa: 'Phags-pa Script : Description
The 'Phags-pa script was created by the Tibetan monk known as 'Phags-pa (1239-1280) at the behest of Kublai Khan between 1260 and 1269. It was intended for use as the "National Script" of the Mongolian Empire, and was used during 13th and 14th centuries for writing Mongolian, Chinese, Uighur, Tibetan and other languages.

Pagpa: 'Phags-pa Script : Overview
The Phags-pa script is named after its creator, the Tibetan lama known by the title of 'Phags-pa Lama.

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 the Rubin Collection: Identifications & Clarifications
by David P. Jackson.

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

Palpung Mural Rescue
by Pamela Logan. China Exploration & Research Society and Kham Aid Foundation.

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.

Peace of Mind
Sculpture: the wonderful history of art from India, the Himalayan regions and South East Asia is represented by the rich cultural heritage of their sculptures.

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.

Phagpa and Zhangzhung Fonts Download
The following Unicode fonts are available for free download. All fonts make use of OpenType technology to produce the correct shaping and joining behaviour. Unfortunately this may not work on all operating systems and with all applications. Windows Vista is recommended.

Phagpa Lokes'vara of the Potala
Sculpture: a form of Avalokites'vara of a type that has long puzzled historians of Himalayan art by Ian Alsop.

Photos of Tibet in the Early 1940s
Taken by members of the Tolstoy expedition.

Photovalet (Tibet)
Images of Cities/Architecture: Tibet, Images by Jo Sanders, Don Carroll, Scott Jordan, Lawrence Stoller, and Photovault.

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.

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.'

Prayer Flags
Download and print your own prayer flags.

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.

The Queen's Chorten: Karsha Temple, Zangskar
The "Queen's" Chorten is located in Karsha, Zanskar, immediately in front of the Chuchikjyal temple. While the latter structure predates its ca. 14th century paintings by a century or two, the "Queen's" Chorten is reliably dated by inscriptions on its own paintings (translated by the Karsha Lonpo and Lama Angchuk) to the second half of the 16th century.

Recent Photographs of Ancient Sites in Tibet and the Himalayas
Photographs by Michael Katz

Recognizing the Gods
Metropolitan Museum of Art Essay Topics.

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.

Rithang Monastery
(Restoration project)

Russia: Oriental Art Museum in Moscow
A mixed assortment of Himalayan art along with modern paintings by Roerich. (No Url available)

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.

The Samantabhadra Collection
The Tibetan and Himalayan Digital Library (University of Virginia).

The Samantabhadra Collection
The Tibetan and Himalayan Digital Library (University of Virginia).

Seeing Tibetan Art
This is a research project to make exhibitions of Tibetan art more enjoyable for Western visitor at Tibetan art exhibition museum visitors. To accomplish this, we are collecting the opinions of Tibetans and Westerners about six artworks.

Sekhar Guthok
(Milarepa's Tower - restoration project)

Selections from the Naxi Manuscript Collection
It features ceremonial writings of the Naxi people of Yunnan Province, China, the only living pictographic language in the world today.

Selections from the Naxi Manuscript Collection
It features ceremonial writings of the Naxi people of Yunnan Province, China. It is the only living pictographic language in the world today.

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.

Shalu Association
To help protect the Cultural Heritage of Tibet and restore important sites.

Shalu Association: Photos

Shalu Monastery
(Restoration project)

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.'

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

The Silver Jug of the Lhasa Jokhang
Some Observations on silver objects and costumes from the Tibetan Empire (7th-9th century).

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.

Soma Offertory and Elixer
By Fran?ois Pannier. This Tibetan offertory cover is a rare and exceptional object which has until now only been described briefly.

Soma, Offertory and Elixer by Francois Pannier
This article appeared in number 4 of KAOS - PARCOURS DES MONDES, 2004 translated by David Hunter from the French.

Stupa or Chorten: the Buddha's Presence
Stupas range in size from miniatures meant to be put on a shrine as reliquary and/or a remembrance of the mind of the Buddha, to enormous buildings that serve as temples as well as monuments.

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.

Switzerland: Tibet Museum, Gruyeres
In April 2009, the Alain Bordier Foundation opened the Tibet Museum in the heart of the medieval town of Gruyeres in the French speaking part of Switzerland. (Approximately 300 objects).

Symbols of Tibetan Buddhism

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.

Tashi Kabum: A Cave Temple associated with Luri Gompa in Upper Mustang, Nepal
By Gary McCue. The Tashi Kabum site consists of a half dozen caves dug into the ridge side about 50m above the valley floor. The sgo-nyer explained that according to local legend there are seven (or nine) cave temples containing chortens.

Thangka Restoration and Conservation
by Marion Boyer Jean Michel Terrier.

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

Tibet
The early contacts with the west had a strong influence on the development of Tibet through Buddhism, social customs and culture. Today's questions about Tibet have stimulated renewed interest in its history and traditions. Most citations since 1990.

TIBET - Monasteries Open Their Treasure Rooms
TIBET - Monasteries Open Their Treasure Rooms - the exhibition and its book: A Review by Michael Henss

The Tibet Album
The Tibet Album presents more than 6000 photographs spanning 30 years of Tibet's history. These extraordinary photographs are a unique record of people long gone and places changed beyond all recognition. They also document the ways that British visitors encountered Tibet and Tibetans.

Tibet in Black and White
The images presented here reflect aspects of journeys in 1990 and 2002. Matthew T. Kapstein.

Tibet Information Zone (Newark Museum)
In addition to artist Phuntsok Dorje's mural of the yaks, mountains and nomads of Tibet, there are fur hats to try on, a tea "party" to play with and Tibetan films, books and games.

Tibet Site Seminar
The Tibet Site Seminar is a four-year project culminating in a one-month site-seminar in central and western Tibet scheduled for the summer of 2007. By targeting the recent opening of Tibet and by building collaboration between disciplines, the seminar will offer unprecedented research opportunities to a new generation of Ph.D. students. Aimed at furthering the development of art history and Buddhist studies, the Tibet Site Seminar brings together faculty from east and west in an interdisciplinary and collaborative effort.

Tibetan Arms and Armor
Metropolitan Museum of Art Essay Topics.

Tibetan Art (THDL)
Draft prepared by Frances Garrett. Tibetan Himalayan Digital Library, UV.

The Tibetan Book of the Dead:
The Tibetan Book of the Dead: Transitions to the Other World

Tibetan Buddhist Altar (Newark Museum)
A Tibetan Buddhist altar is traditionally constructed as a sacred space to house images of the Buddha and his teachings. Virtual Tour of Altar.

Tibetan Buddhist Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art Essay Topics.

Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center
Dedicated to creating and maintaining a digital archive of Tibetan literature.

Tibetan Buddhist Symbols

Tibetan Buddhist Thangkas and their Religious Significance
by Tulku Thondup. Enlightened Journey: Buddhist Practice as Daily Life. By Tulku Thondup, edited by Harold Talbot. Shambhala: Boston & London, 2001.

Tibetan Buddhist Thangkas and their Religious Significance
Enlightened Journey: Buddhist Practice as Daily Life. By Tulku Thondup, edited by Harold Talbot. Shambhala: Boston & London, 2001.

Tibetan Buddhist Wall Paintings of Mustang
A photographic survey of the wall paintings of three gompas or monastery-temples of Mustang, an ethnically and culturally Tibetan district in northwestern Nepal, on the edge of the Tibetan plateau. By Philip and Marcia R. Lieberman.

Tibetan Calligraphy
Discover Tibetan Calligraphy.

Tibetan Calligraphy : Tibetan Village Project
Tibet has had its own distinctive script since the 7th century. The script was derived from the Brahmi script of India, and was originally developed to translate Buddhist texts from Sanskrit into Tibetan. The Tibetan alphabet contains 30 consonants and four vowels. Words are read from left to right and syllables are separated by a dot.

Tibetan Calligraphy Examples on Flickr
Modern Tibetan calligraphy.

Tibetan Healing Mandala
Freer-Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian.

Tibetan Heritage Fund & Lhasa Archive Project
Supervising the restoration of ancient Tibetan buildings.

Tibetan Language Software Links
A great list of links to all Tibetan language software resources.

Tibeto-Logic
Tibeto-Logic: "More-or-less monthly musings on mainly antiquarian Tibetological topics of interest to those who like me somehow find something interesting in them." Dan Martin.

Tibetological
A Tibeto-logic Blog uploaded files page: For the time being at least, I will only use it to upload files for readers of Tibeto-logic Blog to download. - Dan Martin

To See the Buddha
An analysis of the various chracteristics of the Buddha form.

Tracing the Reception and Adaptation of Foreign...
Tracing the Reception and Adaptation of Foreign aesthetic elements in Tibetan sculpture. We will first examine the aesthetic characteristics of the most ancient metalwork to see how this process of fusion and adaptation of foreign influences was accomplished, and subsequently we will examine these tendencies in the sculptures which the Tibetans made to honor the Buddhist religion.

Tsakli: Tibetan Ritual Miniature Paintings
Employed in numerous situations such as empowerment, ritual mandalas, transmission of teachings, substitutes for ceremonial items, visualization aids and funerals, by Juan Li.

Tsering Art School (Shechen Institute)
For the preservation and continuation of authentic Tibetan Buddhist Art. Shechen Monastery.

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.

Tsiu Marpo, The Career of a Tibetan Protector Deity
by Christopher Paul Bell. The Florida State University College of Arts and Sciences. (35 MB Pdf file).

Tsondru Thangka Conservation
Ann Shaftel, Conservator.

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.

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

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.

The Vajrayana: Myth & Symbolism
by Peter Della Santina.

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

The Vanishing Dances of Ladakh
(This essay first appeared in Ballet Review, Summer 2001 Reprinted with permission and amendments. By Joseph Houseal).

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.

Visual Dharma: The Buddhist Art of Tibet
by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche.

Visual Dharma: The Buddhist Art of Tibet
by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche.

Wangden Meditation Weaving
Wangden Valley and the unique weaving tradition by Rupert Smith.

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.

The Wheel of Life
An interactive tour through the symbolic meanings of the Wheel of Life.

Wheel of Life: Interactive Tour

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.

Woodslips: An On-line Digital Database of Tibetan Woodslips
The largest, and most well-known, single cache of Central Asian manuscripts is that discovered in a walled-up library in the monastic cave complex of Dunhuang.

World Wide Web Virtual Library - Tibet

Yemar Temple
(Restoration project)