Himalayan Art Resources

Stupa (Chaitya): Deities

Stupa: Iconography

Subjects, Topics & Types:
- Description (below)
- Abheda, Elder/Sthavira
- Maitreya
- Marichi
- Rakta Yamari (Drigung)
- Ushnishavijaya
- Vairochana
- Vaishravana with Eight Nagas
- Virupaksha, Guardian King
- Nepal:
--- Chariot Ritual
--- Nepalese Deities & Stupas
- Confusions
- Others...

Video: Deities & Stupas

Maitreya is sometimes depicted seated in a stupa or in front of a stupa. Marichi and Ushnishavijaya are situated as seated in the dome of a stupa with a facing door. The fearsome meditational deity Rakta Yamari of the Drigung Kagyu tradition has three faces with three stupas above. The right and left stupas match the colours of the faces below, and the central stupa is and sits above the central red face. The Nepalese seventy-seventh birthday ritual generally employs a stupa and the long-life deity Ushnishavijaya placed in the center dome.

The Elder Abheda (Tibetan: ne ten, mi je pa, Sanskrit: Sthavira Abheda): the sixteenth of the Great Elders holds a stupa. "On the King of Snow Mountains is the noble elder Abheda, surrounded by 1,100 arhats; homage to the one holding an enlightenment stupa." (Sakya liturgical verse). The Indian teacher Jowo Atisha is typically depicted with a stupa and a travelling bag placed to the right and left of his seat. Manjushri & Maitreya in Dialogue are depicted with one or more small table stupas placed between them in painted examples.

Hand Attribute:
- Abheda
- Vaishravana with Eight Nagas
- Virupaksha, Guardian King
Crown Ornament:
- Maitreya
- Rakta Yamari (Drigung)
Abode/Dwelling:
- Marichi
- Ushnishavijaya
- Vairochana
- Miscellaneous Deities (Nepal)

Jeff Watt 8-2005 [updated 4-2017, 3-2020]

(The images below are only a selection of examples from the links above).