Himalayan Art Resources

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Eye Clearing Avalokiteshvara - Updated

The Eye Clearing Avalokiteshvara Main Page has been updated with additional images.


Although originally a Nyingma practice found in Southern Tibet, the Eye Clearing Avalokiteshvara has grown immensely in popularity in Mongolia. One of the largest images in the Ganden Monastery, Ulan Bator, is this Eye Clearing form of the deity. It is possible that the 8th Jetsun Dampa is principally responsible for the 20th century popularity.

Lha Chenpo (Shiva) - Updated

The Lha Chenpo Main Page has been updated with additional images and links.


The practice of Lha Chenpo (Mahadeva), in this and similar forms, is a Revealed Treasure teaching (Tibetan: Terma) unique to the Nyingma Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. It was especially popularized through the Mindrolling tradition of the Nyingma. Sometimes Lha Chenpo can be found as a minor figure in paintings of Jinasagara Lokeshvara. There are a number of different forms of Lha Chenpo relating to the 'Terma' tradition plus other unrelated forms of Shiva found in the various levels of Tantra and other Indian and Tibetan Buddhist traditions.

An Achala Textile & The Fifth Dalai Lama - Added

Is it possible that the famous and well published woven textile image of Arya Achala of the Sakya Tradition, housed in the Potala Palace, is the same Miyowa textile of Phagpa Rinpoche discussed below?


"The general treasurer of Zhalu made arrangements for performing the auspice ceremony of longevity for me with gifts that included the woven image of Miyowa, which was once the spiritual relic of Phagpa Rinpoche." (The passage was written in 1662. The Illusive Play, the Autobiography of the Fifth Dalai Lama. Chapter 38, page 479-480. Translated by Samten G. Karmay. Serindia Publications, 2014).