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The artistic convention of placing four lineage teachers in each composition - register based - of a multi-painting set is found almost exclusively within the Sakya Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism and most popular in the 15th and 16th centuries. Register based compositions almost completely disappear after the 17th century with the introduction of the Floating Figure composition which remains popular right up to the present time. No examples of four figure composition lineage painting sets for the Nyingma, Kagyu or Gelug traditions could be found in the HAR database. Of course it is possible that other and perhaps earlier examples will be discovered that will change our understanding of the subject.

A gallery for Medicine Buddha Retinue Figures, painting, sculpture and textile, has been added to the Masterworks Page.

A gallery for Medicine Buddha Paintings has been added to the Masterworks Page.

The eight images in this gallery depict the Eight Medicine Buddhas. The full set likely contained nine compositions in total. The missing image is of the personification of the Prajnaparamita Sutra as a female deity.

1. Bhaishajyaguru, Vaidurya Prabha Raja (blue)

2. Ashokattamshri (pink)

3. Suvarnabhadra Vimala (white)

4. Abhijnaraja (pink)

5. Shakyamuni (golden)

6. Suparakirtita Namashri (yellow)

7. Nirghosharaja

8. Dharmakirti Sagara

9. Prajnaparamita (yellow)

The Avadana Main Page has been updated with additional images including a list of painting sets and collections.

A gallery highlighting three unusual images of Hevajra has been added to the HAR site. These three paintings are not related to each other except for the subject of Hevajra and Nairatmya. The three paintings are each unusual because of their iconography, composition or rarity.

A gallery for Vajra Nairatmya has been added to the Masterworks Page.

A gallery for Chaturbhuja Mahakala has been added to the Masterworks Page.

The meditation practice and mandala of the Tigle Chu Drug contains sixteen levels of deities and teachers progressing from the inside to the outside. The central figure is Avalokiteshvara. Believed by some to have originated with the Kadampa Tradition of Jowo Atisha, this system of practice remains controversial with many scholars considering it to be a mandala and meditation practice of Tibetan origin. Regardless of the controversy, the art associated with the Tigle Chu Drug is unique in composition and design.

1. Jinasagara Avalokiteshvara.
2. Namnang Gangchen Tso.
3. Jinasagara Avalokiteshvara.
4. Avalokiteshvara, one face, two hands.
5. Prajnaparamita.
6. Tubpa Dudul (Buddha?).
7. Chaturbhuja Avalokiteshvara.
8. Green Tara.
9. Krodha Tara.
10. Achala.
11. Atisha.
12. Dromton.
13. Maitreya.
14. Manjushri.
15. Vajradhara.
16. Dharmakaya.

Additional images of Machen Pomra (Amnye Machen) have been added. Machen Pomra is the most popular mountain god of Eastern Tibet. (See Mountain Gods & Local Deities).

Humans with Animal Attributes: There are at least three human figures that are depicted with animal characteristics. The first is Nagarjuna who is typically shown with five or seven snakes above the head. The second is Gyalwa Chogyang, a student of Padmasambhava, that is typically depicted with a green horse head atop his own head. The third is Shridhara, an Indian teacher sometimes included in sets of the Eighty-four Mahasiddhas. Shridhara is associated with the Chakrasamvara, Vajrabhairava and Yamari teaching lineages.

A gallery for Amitayus Buddha has been added to the Masterworks Page.

A gallery for Amitabha Buddha has been added to the Masterworks Page.

The Marichi Main Page has been updated with additional images and information.

The Goddess of the Dawn (Tibetan: ozer chen ma. Sanskrit: Marichi) is depicted in many different forms. Sometimes she rides a white horse through the sky, banishing the darkness and driving back the night with the orb of the sun in the outstretched right hand. More commonly, Marichi is yellow or red in colour, with three or more faces and six to twelve arms, seated on a chariot drawn by seven pigs, or horses, removing all obstacles to happiness and well-being. Her mood can be either peaceful or wrathful. The metaphor for spiritual practice and meditation is light, light overcoming darkness.

A gallery for the worldly protector Shangpa Karpo, has been added to the Masterworks Page.

A gallery for the worldly protector Vaishravana, King of the North, has been added to the Masterworks Page.

A gallery for the worldly protector and wealth deity  Vaishravana Riding a Lion has been added to the Masterworks Page.

Dorje Lingpa (1346-1405) life story murals from Buli Monastery, Bhutan.

Also see the Dorje Lingpa Main Page. The images have been added to the Ariana Maki Photographic Archive.

Red Tara, Secret Accomplishment according to the tradition of Dzigar Terton Dragpo Tsal (1740-1798), the 4th Dzigar incarnation [P691].

At the center is Red Tara, peaceful in appearance, with one face and two hands. She holds in the right hand a hook of gold and jewels. In the left hand held at the heart she grasps the stem of a red utpala flower blossoming at the left shoulder. Wearing all of the ornaments and garments of a peaceful deity, she sits in a relaxed posture with the right leg extended forward and the left drawn up.

The paintings in this gallery belong to a Lamdre Lineage set created at Ngor Ewam Monastery in Tsang, Tibet. The Sakya School, of which Ngor is a sub-school, maintains hundreds of lineages of Buddhist teachings that were propagated by Indian scholars and siddhas. Considered the most important of these teachings is the 'Path Together with the Result' (Sanskrit: Margapala. Tibetan: lam dre bu tang che pa). The set presented here probably totals approximately thirty in number. More than twenty paintings are known to survive.

The important iconographic elements of each composition are:

1. Central Figure (and lineage affiliation)

2. Surrounding Lineage

3. Deity/ies in the Bottom Register

4. Miscellaneous ornamentation, throne decoration, minor deities

Each composition depicts a single figure from the lineage of teachers of the Sakya Margapala/lamdre lineage. The set as a whole depicts the entire Lamdre lineage up to the time of its creation - likely in the late 16th century based on the last two teachers often being the 8th abbot of Ngor, Muchen Sanggye Rinchen (1450-1524), followed by the 10th abbot of Ngor, Ngorchen Konchog Lundrub (1497-1557).