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In this case there is both a confusion over appearance and a confusion over a name. Amitayus is a Buddha and generally appears identical to Amitabha except for the addition of jewels and multi-coloured silk robes. Avalokiteshvara, as he appears in the Vajradharma form, is almost identical with Amitayus except for the lack of a long-life vase in the lap. With regard to the Chakrasamvara Tantras then there are two forms of the primordial Buddha Vajradharma - Vira Vajradharma and Dharmakaya Vajradharma. The Vira form holds a damaru double-sided drum and a skullcup. The Dharmakaya form holds a vajra and bell with the the two hands crossed at the heart. This form is identical in appearance to the primordial Buddha Vajradhara except for having a red body colour. Neither of these two forms of Vajradharma are related to the Avalokiteshvara Vajradharma.

It is very easy to confuse the deities Vajrapani, Vajravidarana, Sengge Dradog, Mahakala and Yama Dharmaraja. They are all wrathful in appearance, blue in colour, one face and two hands, holding either a vajra or curved knife in the upraised right hand. Great care must be taken to see the defining characteristics of each iconographic form as well as observing the over all context of a painting. Sculptural representations are more difficult to identify without the help of an inscription or the benefit of comparison with other sculptural figures from the same set. Many of the figures from the various sets of the Ten Great Wrathful Ones can also have the general appearance of Vajrapani. When an identification is still in doubt and the obvious forms have been ruled out then the Ten Wrathful Ones should be carefully looked at.

Many iconographic forms are very similar in appearance to each other. Because of this similarity there is often confusion over identifications of both deity and human figures. The list below is a general survey of the most commonly confused figurative subjects in Himalayan and Tibetan art. Links and pages for all of the entries below will be added over the next few weeks.

Confused Visual Subjects:

- Amitayus, Avalokiteshvara

- Avalokiteshvara with 11 Faces, Kunzang Gyalwa Gyatso, Kunzang Gyalwa Dupa

- Brahmarupa Mahakala, Mahasiddhas

- Chakrasamvara, Shri Hevajra, Mahamaya, Buddhakapala, etc.

- Dorje Shugden, Dorje, Legpa, Dorje Ta'og

- Karmapa black hat, Jamchen Choje Shakya Yeshe black hat

- Krishna Yamari, Yama Dharmaraja (outer)

- Magyu Sangchog Tartug, Shri Hevajra & Chakrasamvara

- Mahakala subjects: Gonpo Maning, Gonpo, Legden, Gonpo Chesum

- Nagarjuna, Shakyamuni Buddha, Nagaraja Buddha, Arhat Rahula, Sakya Pandita

- Padmasambhava, Yungdrung Tongdrol, (misc. Nyingma teachers)

- Sage of Long Life, Arhats

- Sakya Pandita, Buton, Tsongkapa, Ngorchen, Bodongpa, Gongkar Dorjeden

- Sarasvati, Indra (Wheel of Life paintings)

- Shamar hat, Gyaltsab hat, Situ hat, (hats of misc. Nyingma teachers)

- Tsangnyon Heruka, Mahasiddhas

- Tsiu Marpo, Dorje Setrab, Dragpa Sengge

- Vajrabhairava, Mahottara, Vishvarupa

- Vajrapani, Vajravidarana, Sengge Dradog, Kartaridhara, Yama Dharmaraja (inner)

- Vajrasattva (Heruka), Vajradhara, Vajradharma, Vajrapani

Hell Beings & Torture Depictions: a set of painted cards on rough paper with various hell scenes. Two of the images were previously uploaded to the HAR website. The set must have been created for some ritual use as each card is also numbered on the back, however it is difficult to say how many cards there were in total. Hell depictions were especially popular in Mongolia where most of the best sets of hell depictions are found. (See the Hell Main Page and Hell Outline Page).

These images are from a set of modern cards printed on paper depicting groups of three deities, or groups of three individuals - founding teachers of Tibetan Buddhism. Many of the most common and essential visual topics of Tibetan iconography are represented in these images. The full set, arranged in groups of three, also re-enforces the importance of knowing the Iconographic Number Sets in Himalayan and Tibetan art. (See Number Sets Main Page and Number Sets Outline Page).

Just as in learning arithmetic and advanced mathematics without knowing the definitions of numbers and sets and without knowing the multiplication tables and division tables - there is no proficiency. So it is with iconography in Himalayan and Tibetan art. Without knowing the iconographic number sets - there is no proficiency. 

Amoghapasha, which means unfailing lasso, refers to an unfailing compassion like a lasso which brings all sentient beings out of suffering and into a state of happiness leading to enlightenment. Amoghapasha is a complicated deity subject in Tantric Buddhist iconography. He is easily mistaken for Avalokiteshvara in most artistic depictions. The two deities are frequently conflated together by scholars. Sometimes Amoghapasha is described as a form, or emanation, of Avalokiteshvara and again at other times a retinue figure while Avalokiteshvara is the central deity in the mandala. It begs the question, why are some of these mandalas called the Five-deity Amoghapasha if the central deity is Avalokiteshvara? It all comes down to naming conventions in Buddhism. The very idea of a compassionate deity called Amoghapasha comes out of a number of Indian Sanskrit texts that all have the word-name Amoghapasha in the title. In these texts both Avalokiteshvara and Amoghapasha are described along with different appearances and functions for each. In consequence, the principal name for all of these forms of the two deities, regardless of which one of the two is at the center of the mandala, are called Amoghapasha - mandala, meditation, or ritual.

There are a number of different Amoghapasha mandala configurations that still exist in the Newar and Tibetan Buddhist Traditions. There are also numerous solitary forms that do not have elaborate mandalas or retinue figures. The most common of these forms are typically depicted in Nepalese sculpture. They generally have one face and multiple arms, six, eight or ten, and are shown in a standing posture. (See the Amoghapasha Forms Outline).

Amoghapasha Pages:

Amoghapasha Main Page

Outline Page

Forms of the Deity Outline

Painting Set Outline

Amoghapasha Masterworks

The appearance of the Bon deity Magyu Sangchog Tartug follows very closely with several popular Tantric Buddhist deities such as Shri Hevajra and Chakrasamvara. As a comparison, look at the similarities of the 1. standing posture of all three deity figures, 2. the colour of the body, 3. the number of heads, 4. the number of arms, 5. the form of the consort, 6. the posture of the consort, 7. the colour of the consort, 8. the sixteen skullcups in the hands.

Magyu Sangchog Tartug (ma rgyud g.sang mchog mthar thug) is likely the most important Bon meditational deity to appear after the early formulation of the Five Excellent Ones of the Se Fortress and the very early deity Zhangzhung Meri.

The appearance and teachings of Magyu follow much more closely with those of Tantric Buddhism than the Five Excellent Ones. The Magyu is not only similar in appearance to the Buddhist deities Shri Hevajra and Chakrasamvara but also follows closely the literature and commentarial explanations especially with such arcane subjects as generation and perfection stage, dream yoga, clear light, etc.

The deity Magyu is wrathful in appearance, blue in colour, with seven heads and sixteen arms holding sixteen skullcups and each containing a heart. Embracing the consort Kyema Marmo, red in colour, one face and two arms, Magyu stands with the right legs straight and the left bent. The human lineage of Magyu is believed to have started with the Tibetan teacher Zangsa Ringtsun.

Namkha Gyatso a Bon Lama of unknown date, of unknown region and of unknown lineage affiliations.

Seated upright, slightly portly, with silver inlaid eyes a mustache and goatee, he appears slightly older in appearance - possibly depicting a teacher in mid life or later. The right hand is in a gesture of explication or blessing while holding a flower supporting an umbrella-like banner. The left hand is extended across the knee with the palm up, the fingers holding the stem of a flower with the blossom supporting a folio book. The upper torso wears a single robe draped across the left shoulder while a meditation belt goes from the right side to the left across the chest. The head is adorned with a variation of the lotus hat of which there are many different types. Long lappets hang to the right and left and the front is marked with a crescent moon and sun. Again, seated in a typical manner, the legs are placed in a cross legged posture, right over left, atop a double lotus base. (See Bon Hats).

The bottom of the sculpture has a metal plate with an incised 'yungdrung' design circling to the left in the manner typical of the Bon Tradition. The date of the object is speculative and it is possible the object is much more recent in time. An inscription is located around the base of the sculpture.

Jeff Watt 4-2006 [updated 4-2011]

Wylie Transliteration: rje rbas pa'i rigs dzin nam mkha' rgyam mtsho la. krad nam mkha' rin chen gus pas phyag mtshal lo. bdag sogs pha ma'i tso gyas sems kun rnam. gan mchog khyed kyi grung du grib byans nam. nyur du sads rgyas dgo' phang thob par shog.

The Bon Deities Outline Page has been updated along with the addition of more links.

An Outline Page highlighting the art and iconography of Bon Teachers has been added to the site along with updating of the Bon Teachers Main Page. Numerous gallery pages have been added along with additional cataloguing.

Many of the images of teachers, painting and sculpture, belong to much larger sets of images. The vast majority of images of Bon teachers are found depicted in sets of initiation and lineage cards (these sets have not yet been sorted).

The principal categories of Bon teachers depicted in art are those of the [1] Three Lineages of Dzogchen followed by the [2] Bon Monastic Lineage (typically with Nyamme Sherab Gyaltsen or Tritsug Gyalwa at the center), the [3] Magyu Lineage and [4] the Bon Refuge Field. These are the four principal subjects making up a large portion of teacher depictions. After these four there are various miscellaneous lineages of other deities and teaching lines.

The Bon Art Topics Outline Page has been updated along with additional links and added gallery pages.

The Bon Religion Outline Page has been updated along with additional links and cataloguing added.

A new outline page for Begtse Chen has been added along with additional links and cataloguing.

The protector deity Begtse Chen was popularized by both Marpa Lotsawa (1012-1096) and Sachen Kunga Nyingpo (1092-1158), the respective founders of the Marpa Kagyu and Sakya Traditions of Tibetan Buddhism. The protector was later adopted and incorporated into the Gelug School of Tsongkapa and subsequently became popular in Mongolia - predominantly following the Gelug tradition since the 17th century.

Vajradhara is understood as being the primordial buddha of Tantric, or Vajrayana, Buddhism.

The New (Sarma) Schools, from the 11th century onward, namely Kadam, Sakya, Kagyu and Gelug believe that Vajradhara Buddha is the secret, or inner, form of Shakyamuni Buddha and the combined essence of all the buddhas of the ten directions and three periods of time gathered as one. In Anuttarayoga Tantra, the highest of the four catagories of Tantra according to the New Schools, it is Vajradhara who emanates forth the forms of the Five Symbolic Buddhas and Vajrasattva followed by the principal meditational deities such as Guhyasamaja, Shri Hevajra and Chakrasamvara.

According to the Nyingma Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism Vajradhara is an activity emanation of buddha Samantabhadra.

This is a painting of an Indian Siddha Figure (currently unidentified) accompanied by two forms of Vajravarahi at the right and left (also unidentified), figures in narrative scenes above and rows of twenty-one human figures below, attended upon by four offering goddesses, and a protector deity and a wealth deity at the bottom right and left.

All of the figures in the painting except for the Mahakala are essentially unidentified. This painting is a mystery. Who is the central Indian figure? What are the stories in the narrative vignettes above? Who are the twenty-one human figures in the registers below? Is that a topless woman in the first row right?

Is the painting in a Tibetan style, Nepali/Newar? Is it possibly associated with Tangut or Xixia culture? Are the stylistic and decorative elements more closely aligned with the murals of Luri Gompa in upper Mustang, Nepal?

In this one painting we have all of the elements of a good art and iconography mystery.

On the 3rd floor of the Lhukang Temple there are seven murals - painted wall surfaces. Of the seven there are three large mural panels and four small mural panels. Two of the large panels document [1 & 2] 'Revealed Treasure' Teachings of Pema Lingpa. These two panels are very detailed with dozens of images, accompanied by written inscriptions and in some cases with sequential numbering. (North & West Wall).

A third large panel depicts the [3] Eighty-four Mahasiddhas of the Vajrasana tradition along with the Twenty-five disciples of Padmasambhava. (East Wall).

Of the four small narrow panels, the first of these depicts various narratives scenes including [4] Pema Lingpa and the discovery of 'Revealed Treasures' in a lake in Bhutan. The second small panel again depicts [5] narrative scenes including Sakya Pandita, Tsongkapa, Tsarchen Loasal Gyatso and Doringpa (see images below). The first and second panels are placed together in a corner forming a right angle. The third of the three panels depicts [6] two deities - a Nyingma Heruka figure above and a wrathful Vajrapani below. The fourth small panel appears to be a continuation of one of the large Pema Lingpa panels.

This painting is one of the most unique presentations of the worldly condition. It follows somewhat the theoretical formula of a Wheel of Life painting but diverges dramatically with a heavy emphasis on the image of Yama and a detailed depiction of the Buddhist Hell Realms. What is clearly missing in this example compared with the more traditional compositions are [1] the circular format, [2] the outer circle with images representing each of the Twelve Links of Dependent Arising and [3] the Three Animals representing the three poisons - rooster, pig and snake, at the hub of the Wheel of Life.

Six Interesting Things About the Wheel of Life

1. The Earliest (oldest) painting: Ajanta Cave

2. The most correct personification of death (no ornaments)

3. The best depiction based on drawing and line work

4. Briefest symbolic depiction of the Wheel of Life

5. Most unique depiction of the Wheel of Life

6. The biggest depiction (carved rock relief): Dazu, China

A new outline page for Maharakta Ganapati has been added along with additional links and cataloguing.

The Lhasa Main Page and Lhasa Outline Page have been updated. The principal locations are the Potala Palace including the Lukang, the Tsuglakang (Jokang), Barkor Temples, Temples in Lhasa outside of the Barkor, temples on the outer edges of Lhasa - such as Drepung, Sera, Drolma Lhakang, etc. The temples can also be catagorized from the earliest such as the temple on Marpori (inside the Potala), the Tsuglakang and Ramoche up to the latest such as Drashi Lakang.