News

The outline page for Resource Tools has been updated with new links and new sections. The Tibetan Language Section now has a Wylie Transliteration link. The Calendars Section has a Chinese Dynasty Guide and two new resources for the Tibetan Lunar Calendar: 1) Holy Days, and 2) Anniversaries. There are still more dates to add to both of these pages. The problem is in tracking down the dates and then having them confirmed. So far there are no Bon, Hindu or Newar Buddhist date entries.

The Lists Section of Resource Tools is new and has two updated items. The first, Iconography Source Texts & Examples, is only new to this outline page. The second item is an expanded and updated version of the Number Sets & Lists. Previously it had been embedded in the Index Page under the letter 'N.' It became too large for the Index and now has a dedicated page.

To accompany the new Tibetan Lunar Calendar Pages an Astrology Art Outline was created. For many of these new Outline Pages and resources numerous 'thematic set' pages were also created in the HAR database in order to contextualize the related images and subjects: for example the Sidpaho Protection Charts for the Astology Outline, The Three Small Red Ones for the Number Sets & Lists, and List of Lamdre Lineage Teachers for the Lamdre Lineage Art Sets Outline, and many, many more.

Most of the paintings depicting an individual, or several individuals, in one composition are invariably from lineage sets. At any given time sets of paintings in total number are likely to account for more than half of all Himalayan and Tibetan style art. On the HAR site we have already tried to put the Arhat sets of paintings back together where ever possible. Amongst the various 'Lama' sets there are many paintings that belong to the Lamdre lineage, an important subject of the Sakya Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. The Lamdre Lineage Outline Page organizes some of these partial sets and makes the work of recognizing new Lamdre paintings easier. There are currently more Lamdre images in the queue waiting to be uploaded onto the HAR website. Many more images are known but HAR hasn't yet been able to gain the required permissions to exhibit these images on the website.

The main Sakya Outline Page has been re-worked. Added to this at the bottom, as you already saw, is the Sakya Protectors Outline Page. Linked to that is a new outline page for Panjarnata Mahakala. There is still more work to be done on that subject. Also new to the Sakya Outline Page is the Monasteries & Branch Schools outline. This new page will become more meaningful and develop as more images are uploaded in the next few weeks and months. We currently have several thousand images from locations in Central and West Tibet waiting to be uploaded.

The Mural Paintings of Tibet outline became way too large and had to be split into several pages: main page, Eastern Tibet (Kham, Amdo), Central Tibet, Western Tibet. More mural images and new locations are ready to be uploaded to the HAR site. These outline pages will probably have to change again soon to accommodate all of the new images.

With the Mural Paintings of Tibet page there are also many outside shots of the buildings and caves that house the murals. In an attempt to simplify the topic of architecture the important subjects and types have been grouped together on the Architecture Outline Page. This will need to be re-worked as the technical vocabulary and terms are sorted out and standardized.

A new outline page for Sakya Protectors has been added to the HAR site. There is a lot more explanation that needs to accompany each of these protectors, and or, their larger classifications, such as the classifications of Mahakala, Shri Devi, the Three Kings, etc. The image on the left is of the goddess Ekajati, the mother of Mahakala and Shri Devi, from the system of Panjarnata Mahakala according to the Vajrapanjara Tantra. She is included as one of the retinue figures in the Eight Deity Panjarnata practice. She is also included in the Three Deity Panjarnata practice of the Sakya Tradition.

There are many deities represented in the various, Buddhist, Bon and Hindu traditions of the Himalayas that have the same name and sometimes a similar appearance. These deities are not always the same in origin myth, form or function. Great care and sensitivity must be used when recognizing a specific deity along with explaining that deity from the side of the tradition it belongs in.

Please go to the bottom of the page and let us know by using the POLL how easy it is to use the HAR website. We are currently going through and cleaning up confusing pathways and broken links. We are also moving towards a new Home Page that is clearer and easier to navigate but are not yet ready to unveil these changes.

Your input is desired and asked for. You are also welcome to post a comment about how you feel the website can be improved. In the past when we have asked for user response and comments we rarely got anything except positive feedback. We like positive comments but that is not what we are looking for here. We want to hear your ideas for improvements to the site, or suggestions about content that you feel should be added to the site. We have our own ideas, now it is up to you to share your ideas with us.

Sometimes I don't think that visitors to the site are aware of how many different museums, institutions and private collections are actually represented on HAR. There is an Outline Page titled Collections Worldwide that lists all of these different collections. For many of the museums we have formal agreements and received the images directly from them, in some cases along with stipulations as to attribution and dating. There are some museums listed on the outline page that we are still trying to include on the site. These collections will not have a HAR link icon following their name.

We don't have formal relationships with all of the museums. For some we have simply taken digital photographs of the Himalayan objects that are on display in their galleries such as for the National Museum of India, the Capital Museum in Beijing, and others. This is only done in museums that allow photography, generally without the use of a camera flash.

There are well over one hundred Private & Photographic Archive Collections on the site. The first thing that you will probably think is that there aren't one hundred names listed on the page just provided. This is true. Most of the private collections prefer to be anonymous and are found under the title of Private Collections and on the outline page are found under the heading of Unnamed Collections. Probably it would be more clear and accurate if we change this to Anonymous Collections. All of theses collections come from all over the world. Some are professionally photographed and others are not. The Photographic Archives are generally collections of images taken of art in situ of murals or architecture in the Himalayan regions, Tibet, Mongolia, etc.

Other museum collection resources on the site can be found through the HAR Links page. Under Subject there are three museum listings : Museums Asia, Museums Europe, and Museums North America. Under North America also see USA Museums by State. These pages were the first attempt by HAR some years ago to try and locate collections of Himalayan art around the world and make them more widely known. These lists are are in desperate need of updating and are quite inaccurate by today's standards and what is currently known. We will try and have these updated in November.

Well, we finally finished and got the August - October Newsletter mailed out to the HAR e-mail subscription list. Four times a year doesn't sound like a lot for a newsletter but when you have to put it together each time and keep track of all the new additions and changes then it can seem like a lot of work. Possibly the Blog will make the announcement of HAR changes and additions easier and maybe down the road the quarterly newsletter will become redundant. We'll have to wait and see.

What's in the newsletter? The most important new feature, as you already know, is the Blog. There are also several new collections added to the site and a number of new and changed Outline Pages, also called Topic Outlines. The section Iconography: Deities & Subjects became too big and the contents list was split into two pages to fit on an average monitor without too much scrolling. There should be a number of new additions to this section in the near future. There is a stack of hand drawn outline pages waiting to be typed up and posted on the site. If any of you have wondered what program we use to make the outline pages then look to the Mindjet website and a program called Mind Manager. There are a number of similar advanced image mapping programs out there but until proven otherwise Mind Manager is the best for our purposes.

There is a lot of trial and error with this site because we are trying to do two things. First, the site is a database of images from collections around the world. Secondly, it is a knowledge base where we try and provide as much information as possible (in reality as time allows) as well as placing the objects and subjects into a larger context. The Topic Outline Pages are the principal means that we use to try and do this contextualization.

Hats are actually a big deal in religion and art. In art they help us to identify particular people, hierarchy and religious traditions. They also help us track hats in different paintings and sculpture over time (art history) and help to determine the age of particular works of art, and why, because hats change over time. More importantly hats are fun, weird and sometimes strange. What about the black hat of the Karmapas supposedly made from the hair of one hundred thousand Dakinis? What's a Dakini?

There is also the raven topped crown of the king of Bhutan. This hat is based on a religious hat used in fearsome protection rituals. How did it end up on the head of a king in a kingdom that still exists? How many Himalayan kingdoms are left?

Hats are interesting and each has a story about how it came about, why it has a certain colour and shape, and who can and who can't wear the hat. It is very much a staus thing. The hat in the image on the left is the special hat of the Mindroling hierarchs and in this case worn by Terdag Lingpa Gyurme Dorje in a very rare Tibetan portrait painting.

Look to Hats of the Himalayas for an overview of the different hats and the traditions to which they belong. This is just a preliminary look and a lot more work needs to be done. What is very important to remember is that hats are one of the most important iconographic keys in the study, identification and recognition of Himalayan and Tibetan teachers. Hats, who knew!

This is the first post of the HAR blog site. The intention of this new site is to create an open forum in which we might discuss all matters concerned with Himalayan art.

A video discussing the hats of the Bon religion has been added.

A video discussing the hats of the Bon religion has been added.