Images of Tsurphu Monastery have been added to the site courtesy of the Sarah Richardson Photographic Archive. Tsurphu Monastery, located in central Tibet, is the principal monastery of the Gyalwa Karmapa, the head Lama of the Karma Kamtsang Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism (also known as the Karma Kagyu).
Gyajin Pehar is one of the Five forms of Gyalpo Pehar. He represents the mind aspect and is typically depicted as blue in colur and riding an elephant. From among the group of five forms the Activity Pehar is the form most commonly found portrayed as the central figure in paintings and commonly found as a sculpture. Gyajin is the only other form to be depicted as the center of the group. Sometimes sets of five compositions are painted - one composition for each of the five Pehar forms.
The Five Gyalpo Pehar (Kings) of the Terma (Treasure) Lineage of the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism are worldly protector deities. Although only a single deity, Pehar has five forms representing body, speech, mind, quality and activity. Each of the five has a different appearance. The most common form to appear in art is Activity Pehar with three faces, six arms, white in colour and riding a lion.
Gods & Deities are a common feature of Tantric Buddhism. What are they exactly? Who are they and where do they come from? This is a big question in Tibetan Buddhism and subsequently it is important to understand. Deities make up a large percentage of the iconography in painting, sculpture and more importantly meditation practice. Initially the most important thing to learn is that the terms 'god' and 'deity' are used interchangeably with no real intended difference in meaning. (This page on Gods & Deities is a work in progress).
There are many different types and styles of paintings. A noticeable feature of Himalayan art are the various back ground colours that can be found. There are Four Types of Ground Colour. The standard and most common type is the multi-coloured.
There are three further types of ground colour, black, gold and red, in this order, according to the time when each began to be used. The multi or variously coloured paintings are by far the more common in the Himalayan and Tibetan cultural regions. The other three colours are used to invoke mood and emotion. Black is for caution, fear and protection. Gold is for wealth, wonder and opulence. Red is for alarm, power, and resolve.
These images depict known sculpture appearing in paintings such as the Shakyamuni Buddha sculpture in the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa, Tibet, and the famous Sandalwood Shakyamuni Buddha in Beijing, China. The whereabouts of the Sandalwood Buddha are not currently known. Other famous sculpture are the Pagpa of Kyirong and the Three Lords of Ngari.
Torma (Tibetan: tor ma. Sanskrit: ba lim ta): torma are cone shaped ritual food offerings, generally made from flour dough, sculpted into a variety of shapes and sizes, coloured and then adorned with flat circular 'buttons' made from butter.
Have a look at the process and finished product of this unique ritual art form practiced by Bon religious followers of Tibet and the Himalayan regions. "Preparing tormas for the end-of-year Phurpa rites, at Triten Norbutse Bon Monastery, Kathmandu."
Purba Drugse Chempa is one of the principal meditational deities of the Yungdrung Bon Religion. The standard form has three faces and six hands, wrathful in appearance, embracing a consort, and the lower body in the shape of a dagger-like peg.
The Mandala Roof Balcony of Lhakang Chenmo Monastery, Sakya Town, Tibet, is located on the 2nd to top floor and faces in towards the central open courtyard below. The mandala paintings are subject to a tremendous degree of weathering because they are exposed to the elements with only a roof above them. The subjects of the mandalas follow closely to the iconographic programs of the Shalu and Gyantse Monasteries.
The Main Temple of Lhakang Chenmo Monastery, Sakya Town, Tibet. This set of images is still very large and needs to be divided into smaller groupings of images. The labeling will take some time to complete. The famous Temple Pillars have already been divided into a separate grouping.
The Bamo Lhakang Temple is located on the outer wall of the Lhakang Chenmo Monastery in the north-west corner tower. The various rooms contain a number of clay sculpture of famous Throne Holders of Sakya. The remaining rooms and confusing corridors house small protector chapels for the Three Witches (Bamo) of Sakya. The numerous wall towers of Lhakang Chenmo also serve as residences for senior monks and abbots.
This is a great introductory article describing the phallic art of Bhutan. The name of the article is "In Bhutan, friendly phalluses painted on houses scare off evil spirits (NSFW)".
The custom of painting phallic imagery on the outside walls of Bhutanese homes is believed to ward off negative spirits and protect against obstacles. Although the origins of the practice in Bhutan are generally attributed to an eccentric teacher named Drugpa Kunleg, it is more likely that the custom is far older and related to folk culture and marital customs.
The Himalayan Art Resources team have been asked to write a series of introductory postings on Buddhist iconography for the Tricycle Magazine Blog. See below for more information and links.
"Buddhist practice and Buddhist art have been inseparable in the Himalayas ever since Buddhism arrived to the region in the eighth century. But for the casual observer it can be difficult to make sense of the complex iconography. Not to worry—Himalayan art scholar Jeff Watt is here to help. In this "Himalayan Buddhist Art 101" series, Jeff will make sense of this rich artistic tradition by presenting a weekly image from the Himalayan Art Resources archives and explaining its role in the Buddhist tradition." (Tricycle Blog).
The First Five Topics are Listed Below:
- Calm Abiding 5, April 2012
- Buddhas 12, April 2012
- Bodhisattvas 19, April, 2012
- Mandalas 26, April 2012
- Mandalas Part II 3, May 2012
Repeated images surrounding a central figure are common in Himalayan and Tibetan art. The images of paintings found on this page are only a selection from some of the larger museum collections on the HAR website.
The central subject can be almost any figure, a buddha, deity, or teacher. The surrounding subject can also be a repeat of the central subject or another figurative subject. The consistency is in the surrounding figures all being the same. Sometimes each figure is drawn individually by hand but more often the figures are created from a wood block stamping the outline of a number of figures at the same time or some other such mold to replicate the outline of a large number of images quickly and then painted to a greater or lesser degree.
The purpose of such paintings is to create large numbers of the same subject or deity. This in turn multiplies the amount of merit from creating a single holy image to a hundred-fold amount of merit from creating a hundred auspicious images.
The The Drolma Podrang (Palace) Stupa Room houses the remains of a number of Sakya Tridzins and important teachers of the Drolma Podrang branch of the Khon family of Sakya. Most of the bodies are sealed inside the many stupas. The room is located on a second floor of the main Lhakang Chenmo Temple, Sakya, Tibet.
The Puntsog Podrang (Palace) Stupa Room houses the remains of a number of Sakya Tridzins and important teachers of the Puntsog Podrang branch of the Khon family of Sakya. Most of the bodies are sealed inside the many stupas. The room is located on a second floor of the main Lhakang Chenmo Temple, Sakya Town, Tibet.
There are six principle texts belonging to the Yoga Tantra Classification. Most of the texts only have one or two associated mandalas, however the Sarva Durgati Parishodhana has twelve mandalas. The Namasangiti Tantra is known for having seven principal mandalas of Manjushri.
Yoga Tantra Texts:
- Sarvatatagata Tattvasamgraha Nama Mayahana Sutra [Toh 479] Vajradhatu Mandala, Trailokyavijaya Mandala
- Vajrashekhara Mahaguhya Yogatantra [Toh 480]
- Shri Paramadya Samkshipta Kula Mandala [Toh 487] Vajrasattva Mandala 1, Vajrasattva Mandala 2
- Sarvadurgati Parishodhana Tejorajasya Tatagatasya Arhato Samyaksambuddhasya Kalpaikadesha Nama [Toh 483]
- Sarvadurgati Parishodhana Tejorajasya Tatagatasya Arhato Samyaksambuddhasya Kalpa Nama [Toh 485]
- Manjushri Jnanasattvasya Paramarta Namasangiti [Toh 360] Dharmadhatu Vagishvara, Samkshiptakula Guhyaka Manjushri
The Charya Tantra Classification System, although following the same basic Kriya classification of the Three Buddha Families, has very few actual texts and even fewer deities or mandalas. Further to that, not all of the Tibetan Traditions agree on the text titles found under Charya Tantra classification. The Sakya Tradition includes The Manjushri Mulakalpa and Siddhaikavira Tantras as Charya. Most of the other Tibetan Buddhist schools do not. There is variation between the different Tibetan Tantra classification systems based mostly on three points: [1] how the Tantric literature classifies itself, [2] chronological time period, and [3] later religious traditions.
Charya Tantras:
1. Tatagata Family:
- Maha Vairochana Abhisambhodi Tantra [Toh 494]
- Manjushri Mula Kalpa [p102]
- Siddhaikavira Tantra [p103]
2. Padma Family:
(There are no texts translated from an Indian language into Tibetan from this classification)
3. Vajra Family:
- Vajrapani Abhisheka Tantra [Toh 496]
- Nilambaradhara Vajrapani Tantra [Toh 498]
- Vajrapatala Tantra [Toh 499]
The Three Lords constitute the second level of deity classification according to the Kriya Tantra system. At the top level of classification are the Three Buddhas: Shakyamuni, Amitabha, and Akshobhya who are the heads of the Three Buddha Families - Tatagata, Padma and Vajra. In the Kriya system there are as many as eight levels of deity classification for each of the Three Families: 1. Buddha of the Family, 2. Lord of the Family, 3. Mother of the Family, 4. Ushnisha of the Family, 5. Wrathful Deity of the Family, 6. Messengers of the Family, 7. Bodhisattvas of the Family, and 8. Nagas & Yakshas of the Family.
The Three Lords of the World (Bodhisattva):
Manjushri, Avalokiteshvara and Vajrapani.
Note that the Three Lords: Manjushri, Avalokiteshvara and Vajrapani are not protector deities. In many non-Tibetan publications it is common to see the Three Lords mistakenly referred to as Protectors. The confusion is based on the Tibetan word 'gonpo' meaning 'lord' which is also used as a term for the class of Mahakala deities and others. The confusion also arises from Tibetan and Himalayan folk culture where a cairn is located at the entrance to a village and referred to as the shrine of the 'Gonpo Sum' - Three Lords (protectors). The village shrines most likely predate Buddhism and were originally unrelated to the Three Lords of Tantric Buddhism.
Tantric Buddhism can be divided into two different schools. The first and earliest is the Nyingma Tradition. The second are the group of traditions collectively known as the Sarma (New) Schools. The New Schools are made up of the Kadam, Sakya, Marpa Kagyu, Shangpa Kagyu, Jonang, Gelug and others. According to the Sarma Schools Kriya Tantra is the first of the four classifications of Buddhist Tantra: Kriya, Charya, Yoga, Anuttarayoga.
Kriya itself is divided into the Three Families: 1. Tatagata, 2. Padma, and 3. Vajra. Those are followed by a general category of Tantras applicable to all three families. The three families are each divided into sub-categories. The Tatagata Family has the largest number with eight categories. The Padma and Vajra Families have five categories each based on the first eight categories of the Tatagata Family. The majority of texts catalogued as belonging to the Kriya Tantra are classified under the categories of the Three families. Very few texts belong to the general fourth category.
The Three Families of Kriya Tantra:
1. Tatagata Family | 2. Padma Family | 3. Vajra Family
The Tantra Classifications page has been updated along with the sub-pages. More work still needs to be done making this a work in-progress.
Tantra Classification: in Vajrayana Buddhism there are different ways of enumerating, cataloguing and categorizing the many different texts in Tantra literature. Several different systems made their way to the Himalayas and Tibet. At the present time there are two principal systems in use, the Nyingma and the Sarma. The Tibetan word Nyingma literally means old traditions of Tantra and Sarma means the new traditions of Tantra. The new Tantra traditions are composed of the Kadampa, Sakya, Marpa Kagyu, Shangpa Kagyu, Pacifying of Padampa Sanggye, Jonang and the Rwa Tradition. The Gelug Tradition was not included amongst these formative traditions because it was not in direct receipt of any of the tantric traditions from India but was a later synthesis of the already mentioned traditions in Tibet.
