A Shamarpa Outline Page has been added along with additional new images depicting the various Shamar incarnations. Sculpture and painting have their own pages as well as a small section of red hat lamas that are currently unidentified but appear likely to be Shamarpas rather than Situ incanations or Gyaltsab Tulkus.
A Karma Pakshi Guruyoga section has been added to the site and two more images of this rare subject will be uploaded in the near future. (Also see the Guruyoga Main Page).
The Yale University Collection of Himalayan art has been catalogued on the HAR website and awaiting permission to upload the corresponding images. Also see the separate Yale University Collection Objects List page with links to the images on the University Art Gallery website.
The Stupa Main Page has been updated with additional sections and new images.
Two new Fact Sheet pages have been added to to the site and more will be added later. The purpose of these pages is to give a very short, clear, introduction to the major religious traditions of the Himalayas and to provide links to the principle visual subjects and catagories on the HAR site.
Fact Sheets:
Shangpa Kagyu Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism
Sakya Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism
Vajrasattva is a Buddhist deity originating in India and primarily functioning universally as a Tantric practice for the purification of sins and defilements. Vajrasattva also has a number of forms used as meditational deities (ishtadevata, yidam).
Vajrasattva is the inner form of the primodial buddha Vajradhara and represents all the Buddha Families. The 'Solitary Universal Ruler,' in the single aspect without consort, arises from the Yoga Tantras. In the New (Sarma) Schools of Tibetan Buddhism Vajrasattva with consort arises from the class of Anuttarayoga Tantra, specifically from the Abhidhanottara Tantra, 25th chapter, and is known as Heruka Vajrasattva.
In the Nyingma Tradition Vajrasattva is not only a deity of purification but an important meditational deity with many Kama (Oral) and Terma (Treasure) traditions. The most famous meditational form is the Vajrasattva of the Mindroling Monastery Tradition commonly known as the Min-ling Dor-sem.
Depictions of Vajrasattva in sculpture and painting are often confused with the similar deities - Vajradhara, Vajrapani, Vajravidarana, the Five Symbolic Buddhas (in Sambhogakaya form), and others. In a number of Yoga Tantra examples the form of Vajrapani, in the Sarvadurgati Parishodhana Tantra system, appears in exactly the same appearance as the typical 'Solitary Hero' Vajrasattva. A sculpture of the primordial Buddha Vajradhara has the exact same physical iconographic appearance as Heruka Vajrasattva - also depicted with the two hands holding a vajra and bell crossed in embrace holding the consort. In paintings the Heruka Vajrasattva is painted white while the Vajradhara form always appears blue in colour. In physical appearance many forms of Vajrasattva and Vajravidarana are only recognized and differentiated because Vajrasattva holds a single vajra scepter to the heart while Vajravidarana holds a double vajra scepter to the heart. Vajravidarana, like Vajrasattva, can also appear in a white form.
Vajrasattva Forms:
1. Solitary Hero in bodhisattva posture, from the Yoga Tantras
2. Solitary Hero in vajra posture
3. Vajrasattva, Yellow (Atisha Tradition)
4. Vajrasattva with Consort, Anuttarayoga Tantra
5. Heruka Vajrasattva, hands crossed at the heart
6. Vajrasattva 17 Deity Mandala (Mitra Gyatsa)
7. Vajrasattva (Mindroling Tradition)
8. Samputa Vajrasattva, Samputa Tantra
9. Vajrasattva Samvara 17 Deity Mandala
View another example of How to Read a Painting #2.
Himalayan Art is a new area of study and in this study there are new tools and new ways to observe, approach and analyze the objects and works of art.
There are three important
fields of study that have to be brought together equally: (1)
Art History, (2) Iconography and (3) Religious Studies.
Because of the religious nature of the art and because of the living tradition - that the objects are very much a part of - there are three important points to observe when studying a Himalayan and Tibetan art object: (1) the Form - the physical object, (2) Function - the intention or purpose of creation and (3) Subject Meaning - the abstract concepts and symbolic meanings.
Following from the application of those three important points are (1) Analysis, (2) Interpretation and (3) Identification.
These pages for Reading a Painting are part of the on-going HAR project to create a Himalayan Art Curriculum and Study Guide. The image #113 (Chaturbhuja Mahakala) was chosen randomly based on a casual discussion with a museum guide. Paintings and sculpture covering a wider range of subject and type will be added in the future.
The Five forms of Tsongkapa (je zigpa nga den) are based on the visions of Kedrub Geleg Pal Zangpo (1385-1438) of his teacher Tsongkapa (1357-1419).
These five special forms are depicted either in one painted composition showing all five forms of Tsongkapa grouped together, generally surrounding the mahasiddha form of Tsongkapa, or they are depicted each in their own painted composition making a set of five paintings in total. The five special Tsongkapa forms are also commonly seen as minor figures at the top of other Gelug Tradition painted compositions and painting sets of all types and subjects.
Tsongkapa Five Forms Main Page
Longdol Lama Incarnation Lineage Set (klong rdol, ngag dbang blo bzang 1719-1794) [TBRC P22]. Longdol Lama is a subject in Tibetan Art History because he has ten
pre-incarnations that are depicted in a seven painting set. Some of the
incarnations still need to be identified either through the
inscriptions on the front of the paintings or from other literary sources. Longdol Lama Ngagwang Lobzang was an important scholar and Gelug teacher of the 18th century. He has an especially interesting pre-incarnation lineage that includes the mahasiddha Dombi Heruka, Serlingpa - a teacher of Atisha and Marpa Chokyi Lodro the founder of the Marpa Kagyu Tradition of Tibet.
A unique characteristic of Himalayan style art is the creation of painting and sculpture sets as a single large composition. A second unique feature of Himalayan art is the creation of Incarnation Lineage paintings and painting sets. The notion of the same recognized human or living entity, such as the Dalai Lama, knowingly inhabiting a series of bodies through numerous generations is unique to Tibetan and Himalayan Buddhism. Therefore, Incarnation Lineage paintings and sculpture sets are a unique feature of Himalayan & Tibetan Style Art.
Fortunately for the purposes of study a number of the important incarnation lineages fall into natural groupings. The first group is concerned with the first recognized, or accepted, incarnate lama of Tibet, commonly said to be the Gyalwa Karmapa. Within the over-all tradition of the Karmapas, the Karma Kagyu Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, there are also the incarnate lineages of Shamar, Situ, Gyaltsab and Nenang Pawo. These five lineages of incarnations all belong to the same religious tradition and naturally form there own group. According to tradition, added to those are the Karma Tinlepa and the Treho Tulku although so far no painting or sculpture sets have been found that depict the two unique additional incarnation lineages.
The second important group is that of the Dalai Lama, Panchen Lama and Desi Sanggye Gyatso. The foundations for these incarnation lineages were developed at the same time in the 17th century and seemingly as a coherent inter-connecting group of three with each incarnation in a generation relating directly with the other incarnations. Examples of this inter-relationship are the Panchen Lama pre-incarnation of Atisha and the Dalai Lama pre-incarnation of the student Dromton. At the time of the 4th Dalai Lama the Desi pre-incarnation was Altan Khan who first used and offered the title 'Dalai Lama.'
Another natural group related in life and in incarnation lineage is Jamyang Kyentse Wangpo and Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taye.
In each composition that depicts a complete incarnation lineage the central figure is surrounded by the previous incarnations. The earliest of these pre-incarnations for each central subject is almost always an Indian Adept (mahasiddha), a great Worthy One (arhat), or a bodhisattva such as Maitreya as with the Tai Situ incarnation lineage. Each of these originating pre-incarnations is a direct student of Shakyamuni Buddha.
Sometimes there are competing systems for enumerating and naming the former births. One such notable figure that has two variant lists, or an abbreviated list and a long list, is the Panchen Lama of Tibet. The long list of Panchen Lama pre-incarnations includes Padmasambhava and Jowo Atisha. The Dalai Lama list includes King Trisong Detsen and Dromton. The 8th Tai Situ of the Karma Kagyu Tradition apparently also claimed to be the re-incarnation of Taranata from a completely separate unrelated incarnation lineage system belonging to the Jonang Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. The 32nd Sakya Tridzin Wangdu Nyingpo also boasts Padmasambhava as a pre-incarnation and claims to be the 2nd Padmasambhava of this 'age.' Both the Gelug Longdol Lama and the Karma Kagyu Tai Situpa claim to have the pre-incarnations of both Dombi Heruka and Marpa Chokyi Lodro in common.
The incarnation lineages, names and groups of related figures discussed here are only those that have identifiable works of art depicting those individuals. There are hundreds of other incarnation lineages in Tibetan and Himalayan Buddhism. It is possible that many of the paintings of Lamas that are currently unidentified are actually incarnation lineage paintings.
Incarnation Lineages Outline Page
Google Tags: Himalayan Art Resources
Jamgon Kongtrul (1813-1899) was a prolific writer of the 19th century as well as a compiler of the works of other scholars. He gathered together and included their written works into larger compendia of contextualized material and structered encyclopaedic collections - numbering approximately 150 volumes. Many of these works are invaluable resources of iconographic information and indispensable for the study of Himalayan and Tibetan art history. The most famous of Jamgon Kongtrul's compilations are called the Five Treasures:
1. The Treasure of Encyclopaedic Knowledge (shes bya kun la khyab pa'i mdzod), a massive work covering all of the common and uncommon subjects of Tibetan Buddhism.
2. The Treasure of Precious Instructions (gdams ngag rin po che'i mdzod), the most important texts of eight of the principal transmission lineages of Tibetan Buddhism known as the Eight Chariots.
3. The Treasure of Kagyu Mantras (bka' brgyud sngags kyi mdzod), a collection of the most important practices of the Kagyu Tradition.
4. The Treasure of Precious Revealed Treasures (rin chen gter mdzod), the largest compiled collection of rare Nyingma Termas (Revealed Treasure teachings).
5. The Treasure of Extensive Teachings (rgya chen bka' mdzod), primarily Jamgon Kongtrul's own writings such as the commentaries on the Hevajra Tantra and the Khon Tradition Vajrakila, etc.
"The Kagyu tradition [Outline Page] originated in the 11th century with the Tibetan translator Marpa (mar pa), his famous disciple Milarepa (mi la ras pa) and his disciple Gampopa (sgam po pa), who merged the lay tradition with the Kadampa (bka' gdams pa) monasticism and scholarly focus that he had previously studied. Gampopa founded the first Kagyu monastery, Daglha Gampo (dwags lha sgam po) in Dagpo, southern Tibet. Following Gampopa the tradition split into multiple autonomous subsects, listed below. All claim allegiance to the tantric teachings of the Indian Mahasiddha tradition, primarily that of Naropa, in the form of the Six Doctrines of Naropa (na ro chos drug) and the doctrine of Mahamudra. The Kagyu were also heavily involved in the transmission of the Chakrasamvara, Hevajra, among other tantras of the Second Propagation era.
The traditional - though not very old - way of classifying the Kagyu lineages was evidently invented by members of the Drugpa Kagyu. These are all covered by the general term Dagpo Kagyu (dwags po bka' brgyud), the name stemming from the monastery Gampopa founded in 1121." (Dan Martin, 2009)
A new outline page for the Protectors of the Kagyu Tradition has been added. More links will be added as more examples of the special protectors of the various traditions are acquired.
Additional images and links have been added to the Refuge Field Main Page and Outline Page.
Karmapa Masterworks Page: there are many paintings that depict the Karmapa Lamas in all of their incarnations from the 12th century up to the 20th century. Some of the paintings are masterworks as well as good examples of the various Tibetan painting styles popular over the centuries. The small selection of works represented here are only what is currently available on the HAR website. There are many more paintings and sculpture in museum and private collections that are not yet included in the HAR database.
Karma Kagyu Outline Page "The Kagyud Tradition developed from the teachings of Naropa and Maitrepa. The main founders of all the sects of the Kagyud are the three Great Masters: Marpa, Milarepa and Gampopa. From these three Masters the Kagyud Lineage scattered into the four major and eight minor Lineages. It was from Gampopa's disciple, Phagmo Drupa that most of these lineages of the Kagyud Tradition came, spreading in many different directions. Presently there are four which have not faded and still exist: the Karma Kagyud, Drukpa Kagyud, Drigung Kagyud and Taglung Kagyud. The Dharma lineages of the others have become very subtle or thin (having mostly been absorbed into larger lineages)."
(Excerpt from the Opening of the Dharma, A Brief Explanation of the Essence of the Limitless Vehicles of the Buddha. Written by Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Chokyi Lodro. Translated by Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Chokyi Gyatso, Malaysia, October 1984).
Choying Dorje was both a Tibetan artist and a religious teacher - head of the Karma Kagyu (Kamtsang) Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism - the 10th Karmapa (1604-1674). His art is unique and the style recognizable. The paintings are known for bright colours, simple repetitive human figures and great detail and care when depicting animals and birds. Arhats were a popular theme as well as deity figures such as Avalokiteshvara, Tara and Marichi. The only nearly complete set of paintings known to have been done by Choying Dorje, and still in existence today, are a set of paintings depicting the Life Story of Shakyamuni Buddha.
Of the nearly two hundred works of art that Choying Dorje created during his life, and subsequently recorded in the various biographies, approximately thirty pieces are currently known to exist. The paintings are most plentiful with agreement amongst most scholars as to their authenticity and attribution. However, with the sculpture, there are fewer known pieces and a greater disagreement as to which sculpture can be accurately attributed to Choying Dorje. (See the Choying Dorje Outline Page).
A new outline page for the Karma Kagyu Lineage Painting Sets has been added to the site. This page accompanies the Lineage Sets Main Page posted previously. Dozens of new thematic image set pages have been created and hundreds of images have been reviewed in the process of trying to re-construct as many Karma Kagyu painting sets as possible. The principal lineage painting set is the 'Golden Garland' which depicts the lineage from Vajradhara, Tilopa, Naropa, Marpa, Milarepa and Gampopa to the 1st Karmapa Dusum Kyenpa. There are other painting sets which appear to be primarily incarnation lineage sets however more research needs to be done. Links to the five main incarnation teachers, Karmapa, Shamar, Situ, Gyaltasb and Nenang Pawo, are found on the Outline Page, Painting Sets Page and the Karma Kagyu traditions Main Page.
Lineage Painting Sets make a up a substantial portion of Himalayan and Tibetan art. The two largest single groups of lineage painting sets are the Sakya Lamdre Lineage and the Karma Kagyu Mahamudra Lineage. The Karma Kagyu sets have been organized into a list and same set paintings grouped togther. Curently there are twenty-nine different sets identified on the HAR site. The first set has also been expanded into a custom page to re-construct the likely total number and order of the paintings. See Painting Set 1.
Tonpa Shenrab Outline Page uploaded. The page lists and links all of the various Bon art and iconography, paintings and sculpture, related to Tonpa Shenrab and his various manifestations with an emphasis on the many sets of paintings such as Life Stories.
5th Dalai Lama Outline Page uploaded. The page lists and links all of the various art, paintings and sculpture, related to the 5th Dalai Lama such as the Dalai Lama incarnation lineage, the Panchen Lamas, Desi Sanggye Gyatso and the Potala Palace.
"In April 2009, the Alain Bordier Foundation opened the Tibet Museum in the heart of the medieval town of Gruyères in the French speaking part of Switzerland.
The Tibet Museum houses an important collection of Buddhist sculptures, paintings, and ritual objects. It consists of about three hundred objects, mainly originating from Tibet. Among the statues, however, are a number of objects that were manufactured in the ancient Buddhist cultures surrounding Tibet: rare Buddhist sculptures from Nepal, Kashmir, Swat, and other Himalaya regions, in addition to examples from Northern India and Burma (Myanmar). Like other collectors of Tibetan art, Alain Bordier established his collection during the last quarter of the 20th century, when Tibetan refugees brought great numbers of religious objects into exile in India and Nepal. It was the wish of Alain Bordier to share his fascination with as many people as possible and to preserve and hold together these miraculously preserved sacred objects.
For this purpose he has founded the Alain Bordier Foundation to preserve the Buddhist collection and to maintain the Tibet Museum." Ulrich von Schroeder
The Tibet Museum Collection:
- Tibetan Paintings
- Tibetan Sculpture 1
- Tibetan Sculpture 2
- Nepal: Painting & Sculpture
- Swat Region & Kashmir
- North Eastern India & Burma
HAR Special Features & Tools Page : Himalayan Art Resources is a fully curated art collection with over 35,000 images drawn from public and private holdings around the world. The images (objects) are identified according to subject, region, date, ethnicity, religion, set affiliation, inscription, contextual relationships and more. The site has several hundred thousand words of description, documentation and explanation, and is encyclopedic in breadth. A unique feature of the site is the extensive contextualization of single images with a wealth of related material in the database supported by the indices, glossaries, outline and custom pages. Furthermore there are embedded biographies & histories, lineage lists, chronologies, Tibetan & Sanskrit audio files, Tibetan and Sanskrit language files, along with links (TBRC) to biographical & text records.
Special Features & Tools Page:
The Five Most Powerful Tools
The Five Special Features
Art Sets - Painting & Sculpture
Custom Pages & Testmonials
