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Shri Shmashana Adhipati, Glorious Supreme Lords of the Charnal Ground (also known by another Sanskrit name - Chitipati - a name popularized in Mongolia but virtually unknown in Tibet) arises from the Secret Essence Wheel Tantra and is associated with the collection of Chakrasamvara Tantras (Anuttarayoga). Primarily employed as a wealth practice for Chakrasamvara practitioners, with emphasis on protecting from thieves, Shmashana Adhipati, Father and Mother, also serve as the special protector for the Vajrayogini Naro Khechari practice of the Indian mahasiddha Naropa as transmitted through the Nepalese Pamting brothers and then to the Sakya Tradition. Shri Shmashana Adhipati is now common, to a greater or lesser extent, in all the New (Sarma) Schools of Himalayan and Tibetan influenced Buddhism.

Shri Shmashana Adhipati is regarded as an emanation of Chakrasamvara and unrelated to the dancing skeleton figures found in Tibetan Cham dances. The Cham dance skeletons are understood as worldly spirits acting as jokers or servants for minor worldly gods such as Yama. Although the Sakya Tradition in the 16th century incorporated the
deity Shamashana Adhipati into the Vajrakila dances of the Khon-lug
Tradition, the deity however remains unrelated to the various skeleton
figures depicted in other Tibetan Cham dance. Western scholars of the
20th century have continually and mistakenly conflated the deity
Shmashana Adhipati with the minor skeleton dance figures found in the
Cham dances and associated with the worldly god Yama.

There is only one original form of the deity as described in the Tantra and passed down through the Sakya Tradition beginning with Sachen Kunga Nyingpo. Many great scholars wrote ritual texts related to the practice of Shmashana Adhipati but not until Zhuchen Tsultrim Rinchen was there a lenthy commentary and explicit retreat instructions. The Gelug Tradition, at the time of the 5th Dalai Lama, adopted the practice and slightly modified the hand attributes for the female deity by adding the stalk of grain in the right hand and a wealth vase in the left rather than the bone stick and skullcup. There have been a few Nyingma 'Revealed Treasure' versions of the dancing skeleton figures, again with some modifications to the hand attributes. There will likely be other forms of the deity that exist as textual traditions having their origins in 'pure visions' or other types of Tibetan revelatory creation, but as yet they have not appeared in known paintings or sculpture.

For more information on this subject see the publication Demonic Divine by Rob Linrothe and Jeff Watt, Rubin Museum of Art, New York, 2004.

The 'Path Together with the Result' (Sanskrit: Margapala. Tibetan: lam dre bu tang che pa), is considered to be one of the most important Tantric Buddhist teachings to have entered Tibet. It is believed to have originated with the Indian teacher Virupa who was regarded as a great adept (mahasiddha). The images in Margapala Set #4 represent an incomplete set of paintings depicting the lineage of teachers starting with the Primordial Buddha Vajradhara, to the deity Vajra Nairatmya, followed by the Indian teachers Virupa, Kanha, Damarupa, Avadhutipa, and Gayadhara, down to the Tibetan teachers beginning with Drogmi Lotsawa. There were likely six or seven more paintings in the cpmplete set following after the painting depicting Sonam Tsemo and Dragpa Gyaltsen. The current whereabouts of the missing paintings is not known and it is quite possible that they no longer exist.

The Six Teachers of Discipline (Dulwa Shen Drug) are the special forms of Tonpa Shenrab, founder of the Bon Religion (Outline Page),  that lead beings out of the six realms of existence: God, Demi-god, Human, Animal, Ghost and Hell realm. Depictions of the Six Teachers are found as individual compositions created as a set of six paintings, or as murals on temple walls, or as accompanying  figures in large paintings that depict the pantheon of the most important and commonly represented deities of the Bon Religion. Depictions of a Bon version of the Wheel of Life/Existence appears to be a recent borrowing from the Buddhist models of the six realm version. The earliest known painting of the Wheel of Life (Samsara Chakra) is found in the Ajanta Caves in India.

The Four Transcendent Lords are the most important deities/gods of the Bon Religion. Each of the Four Lords are typically depicted in a single composition with each surrounded by two hundred and fifty attendant deities. These attendant figures total one thousand in number and are called the 'One Thousand Enlightened Ones' of the Bon Religion. The first set of two hundred and fifty figures surrounding Satrig Ersang are female and the other three Lords are surrounded by male attendant figures.

The subject of the Four Transcendent Lords, in sets of four paintings, are typically found in every Bon Temple in the Himalayas and Tibet. These four deities hold a similar position as Shakyamuni Buddha and the Sixteen Arhats, or the Eight Great Bodhisattvas, as is customarily found in each and every Buddhist Temple in the Himalayan regions and Tibet.

The Four Lords are described in detail in chapter 30 of the Ziji, a twelve volume, sixty-one chapter, biography of Tonpa Shenrab. Chapter 30 tells the story of the death of Prince Trishang of Tazik. The Four Lords are the principal deities in the funeral ritual for the prince. In chapter 61 the Four Lords are further discussed with reference to the death and funeral of Tonpa Shenrab.

The red hat (sha marpo) of the Shamar Lamas, of the Karma Kagyu Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, is patterned after the famous black hat of the Gyalwa Karmapas. The 2nd Shamar,  Kacho Wangpo (1350-1405), was the first to have a red copy of the black hat, said to be a gift from his teacher the 4th Karmapa, Rolpai Dorje (1340-1383). Later, the Tsurpu Gyaltsab incarnations and the Tai Situ incarnations, also of the Karma Kagyu, would follow form and adopt the same basic design of the red hat, patterned on the black hat, although with slight stylistic modifications.

The 2nd Gyaltsab, Tashi Namgyal (1490-1518) recieved an orange hat from the 7th Karmapa, Chodrag Gyatso (1454-1506). The 1st Situ, Chokyi Gyaltsen (1377-1448), recieved his title of 'Kenting Tai Situ' from the Chinese emperor Yungle but didn't recieve his red hat until the 5th incarnation of Tai Situ, Chokyi Gyaltsen Palzang (1586-1657). That hat was given by the 9th Karmapa Wangchug Dorje (1556-1602/03).

According to the history of the Karma Kagyu tradition the fifth Karmapa Dezhin Shegpa (1384-1415) was presented a gift of a black hat by the Chinese emperor Yungle. However, according to Mongolian history the first black hat was a gift of Mongke Khan to the 2nd Karmapa, Karma Pakshi. Despite its true origins, this black hat has become the principal identifying characteristic and iconographic attribute in the depictions of the Karmapa incarnation lineage and likewise for the Shamarpa incarnation lineage.

Characteristics of the Shamar Hat

1. Red in colour

2. Round with upturned flaps

3. Front marked with a three or five jewel emblem

4. Sides decorated with cloud pattern trailing to the back

5. Peaked with a gold finial and a large jewel

The shape of the hat itself is more like a cap and similar to a Mongolian or Chinese court minister's head gear. Aside from the colour, black versus red, the cloud pattern on the side of both the Karmapa and Shamarpa hats differs slightly with the pattern of the Shamar hat placed opposite to that of the black hat. The cloud pattern of the Shamar hat, on the right and left side, almost always trails to the back, which means that the cloud pattern appears to be floating forward of the cap. The black hat pattern has the trail, or tail, of the cloud at the front of the cap.

The ornament on the front of the red Shamar hat is tyically either a three jewel emblem/motif, or a five jewel emblem (the latter reminiscent of a stylized double vajra possibly imitating the double vajra of the black hat). In one instance on the HAR website there is a Shamar hat with a double vajra emblem in a painted depiction of the 7th Shamar, Yeshe Nyingpo.

For sculptural representations of the Shamar Lamas, and the red hat, often a simple flat four sided diamond shape is used as the front emblem of the cap. This is also common for sculptural depictions of the Gyalwa Karmapa, Tai Situ and Gyaltsab Lamas.

Observing 20 Shamarpa images on the HAR site, both painting and sculpture, 3 have a simple diamond shaped emblem, 6 have a three jewel emblem, 10 have a five jewel emblem, and only 1 has a double vajra emblem (vishva vajra).

Typically it is the black hat of the Karmapa that has the double vajra symbol. It is important to know that there is an official black with gold and jewel decorations and then there is a simple black cap made of cloth with a diamond front emblem, also of cloth. The simple cloth cap is worn by the Karmapas for less formal occasions. These two types of hats can be confused when rendered as sculptural objects. In paintings it is readily clear by the brightly painted gold and jewel ornaments which hat is being depicted.

Characteristics of the Karmapa Hat

1. Black in colour

2. Round with upturned flaps

3. Front marked with double vajra emblem & a sun and moon above

4. Sides decorated with cloud pattern trailing to the front

5. Sometimes, no cloud pattern, or no clouds for the first four Karmapas

6. Peaked with a gold finial and a large red ruby

Later, the Karmapa's regeant at Tsurpu Monastery, the Tsurpu Gyaltsab incarnation, would also adopt the red cap and generally maintain the same identical ornamentation as the black hat of the Karmapas: double vajra, sun and moon, cloud pattern at the sides and trailing to the front. However, in some depictions of the Gyaltsab Lamas they wear an orange hat with jewels on the front.

The red hat of the Tai Situ incarnations appears to vary in colour between red and orange, most often having a three jewel emblem on the front and the cloud pattern trailing to the back. More importantly, the Tai Situ hat is also slightly different from all of the others in that it has two notches, or divits, along the top of the up-turned right and left flaps, directly above the cloud pattern on the sides. However, this notch is not consistent from one depiction to the next but common enough to be an important characteristic unique to the Tai Situs and their particular hat. Following that inconsitency, the cloud pattern of the Situ cap sometimes trails to the front, like the black hat, and not always to the back, as is standard for the Shamar hat. Although in an early 17th century painting of the 1st Tai Situ he is depicted with a red hat, not orange, and a five jewel emblem, not three, with the clouds trailing to the front, not back, and the two notches on the right and left sides of the cap clearly visible - the notches becoming more common on the Situ hats in later centuries.

Characteristics of the Tai Situ Hat

1. Red in colour

2. Round with upturned flaps

3. Front marked with a three or five jewel emblem

4. Sides decorated with cloud pattern trailing to the back

5. notch on the top of the right and left upturned flaps

6. Peaked with a gold finial and a jewel

It should now be quite clear that the most consitent and recognizable characteristics for all of these hats, especially for the Shamar, is that the Karmapa's hat is black, the Shamarpa's hat is red as is the Gyaltsab and sometimes the Tai Situ's hat. For the Shamarpa and his hat the most important characteristic to recognize is the red colour of the hat with the cloud pattern trailing towards the back followed by the second characteristic of the three or five jewel emblem on the front of the hat. Aside from these few characteristics, that are not necessarily followed religiously, the only way to tell the difference between a Shamar hat and a Situ hat is the hand gestures and attributes of the lama being depicted beneath the hat. The painting composition, inscriptions, facial expression of the figure, and the placement of secondary figures in a composition in relation to the central figure are all important in determining the true identification of a Shamar hat.

Shamarpa Main Page

Shamarpa Outline Page

Karma Kagyu Hats Page

A Shamarpa Outline Page has been added along with additional new images depicting the various Shamar incarnations. Sculpture and painting have their own pages as well as a small section of red hat lamas that are currently unidentified but appear likely to be Shamarpas rather than Situ incanations or Gyaltsab Tulkus.

A Karma Pakshi Guruyoga section has been added to the site and two more images of this rare subject will be uploaded in the near future. (Also see the Guruyoga Main Page).

The Yale University Collection of Himalayan art has been catalogued on the HAR website and awaiting permission to upload the corresponding images. Also see the separate Yale University Collection Objects List page with links to the images on the University Art Gallery website.

The Stupa Main Page has been updated with additional sections and new images.

Two new Fact Sheet pages have been added to to the site and more will be added later. The purpose of these pages is to give a very short, clear, introduction to the major religious traditions of the Himalayas and to provide links to the principle visual subjects and catagories on the HAR site.

Fact Sheets:
Shangpa Kagyu Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism
Sakya Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism

Vajrasattva is a Buddhist deity originating in India and primarily functioning universally as a Tantric practice for the purification of sins and defilements. Vajrasattva also has a number of forms used as meditational deities (ishtadevata, yidam).

Vajrasattva is the inner form of the primodial buddha Vajradhara and represents all the Buddha Families. The 'Solitary Universal Ruler,' in the single aspect without consort, arises from the Yoga Tantras. In the New (Sarma) Schools of Tibetan Buddhism Vajrasattva with consort arises from the class of Anuttarayoga Tantra, specifically from the Abhidhanottara Tantra, 25th chapter, and is known as Heruka Vajrasattva.

In the Nyingma Tradition Vajrasattva is not only a deity of purification but an important meditational deity with many Kama (Oral) and Terma (Treasure) traditions. The most famous meditational form is the Vajrasattva of the Mindroling Monastery Tradition commonly known as the Min-ling Dor-sem.

Depictions of Vajrasattva in sculpture and painting are often confused with the similar deities - Vajradhara, Vajrapani, Vajravidarana, the Five Symbolic Buddhas (in Sambhogakaya form), and others. In a number of Yoga Tantra examples the form of Vajrapani, in the Sarvadurgati Parishodhana Tantra system, appears in exactly the same appearance as the typical 'Solitary Hero' Vajrasattva. A sculpture of the primordial Buddha Vajradhara has the exact same physical iconographic appearance as Heruka Vajrasattva - also depicted with the two hands holding a vajra and bell crossed in embrace holding the consort. In paintings the Heruka Vajrasattva is painted white while the Vajradhara form always appears blue in colour. In physical appearance many forms of Vajrasattva and Vajravidarana are only recognized and differentiated because Vajrasattva holds a single vajra scepter to the heart while Vajravidarana holds a double vajra scepter to the heart. Vajravidarana, like Vajrasattva, can also appear in a white form.

Vajrasattva Forms:

1. Solitary Hero in bodhisattva posture, from the Yoga Tantras

2. Solitary Hero in vajra posture

3. Vajrasattva, Yellow (Atisha Tradition)

4. Vajrasattva with Consort, Anuttarayoga Tantra

5. Heruka Vajrasattva, hands crossed at the heart

6. Vajrasattva 17 Deity Mandala (Mitra Gyatsa)

7. Vajrasattva (Mindroling Tradition)

8. Samputa Vajrasattva, Samputa Tantra

9. Vajrasattva Samvara 17 Deity Mandala

View another example of How to Read a Painting #2.

Himalayan Art is a new area of study and in this study there are new tools and new ways to observe, approach and analyze the objects and works of art.

There are three important
fields of study that have to be brought together equally: (1)
Art History, (2) Iconography and (3) Religious Studies.

Because of the religious nature of the art and because of the living tradition - that the objects are very much a part of - there are three important points to observe when studying a Himalayan and Tibetan art object: (1) the Form - the physical object, (2) Function - the intention or purpose of creation and (3) Subject Meaning - the abstract concepts and symbolic meanings.

Following from the application of those three important points are (1) Analysis, (2) Interpretation and (3) Identification.

These pages for Reading a Painting are part of the on-going HAR project to create a Himalayan Art Curriculum and Study Guide. The image #113 (Chaturbhuja Mahakala) was chosen randomly based on a casual discussion with a museum guide. Paintings and sculpture covering a wider range of subject and type will be added in the future.

The Five forms of Tsongkapa (je zigpa nga den) are based on the visions of Kedrub Geleg Pal Zangpo (1385-1438) of his teacher Tsongkapa (1357-1419).

These five special forms are depicted either in one painted composition showing all five forms of Tsongkapa grouped together, generally surrounding the mahasiddha form of Tsongkapa, or they are depicted each in their own painted composition making a set of five paintings in total. The five special Tsongkapa forms are also commonly seen as minor figures at the top of other Gelug Tradition painted compositions and painting sets of all types and subjects.

Tsongkapa Five Forms Main Page

Tsongkapa Five Forms Outline Page

Longdol Lama Incarnation Lineage Set (klong rdol, ngag dbang blo bzang 1719-1794) [TBRC P22]. Longdol Lama is a subject in Tibetan Art History because he has ten
pre-incarnations that are depicted in a seven painting set. Some of the
incarnations still need to be identified either through the
inscriptions on the front of the paintings or from other literary sources. Longdol Lama Ngagwang Lobzang was an important scholar and Gelug teacher of the 18th century. He has an especially interesting pre-incarnation lineage that includes the mahasiddha Dombi Heruka, Serlingpa - a teacher of Atisha and Marpa Chokyi Lodro the founder of the Marpa Kagyu Tradition of Tibet.

A unique characteristic of Himalayan style art is the creation of painting and sculpture sets as a single large composition. A second unique feature of Himalayan art is the creation of Incarnation Lineage paintings and painting sets. The notion of the same recognized human or living entity, such as the Dalai Lama, knowingly inhabiting a series of bodies through numerous generations is unique to Tibetan and Himalayan Buddhism. Therefore, Incarnation Lineage paintings and sculpture sets are a unique feature of Himalayan & Tibetan Style Art.

Fortunately for the purposes of study a number of the important incarnation lineages fall into natural groupings. The first group is concerned with the first recognized, or accepted, incarnate lama of Tibet, commonly said to be the Gyalwa Karmapa. Within the over-all tradition of the Karmapas, the Karma Kagyu Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, there are also the incarnate lineages of Shamar, Situ, Gyaltsab and Nenang Pawo. These five lineages of incarnations all belong to the same religious tradition and naturally form there own group. According to tradition, added to those are the Karma Tinlepa and the Treho Tulku although so far no painting or sculpture sets have been found that depict the two unique additional incarnation lineages.

The second important group is that of the Dalai Lama, Panchen Lama and Desi Sanggye Gyatso. The foundations for these incarnation lineages were developed at the same time in the 17th century and seemingly as a coherent inter-connecting group of three with each incarnation in a generation relating directly with the other incarnations. Examples of this inter-relationship are the Panchen Lama pre-incarnation of Atisha and the Dalai Lama pre-incarnation of the student Dromton. At the time of the 4th Dalai Lama the Desi pre-incarnation was Altan Khan who first used and offered the title 'Dalai Lama.'

Another natural group related in life and in incarnation lineage is Jamyang Kyentse Wangpo and Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taye.

In each composition that depicts a complete incarnation lineage the central figure is surrounded by the previous incarnations. The earliest of these pre-incarnations for each central subject is almost always an Indian Adept (mahasiddha), a great Worthy One (arhat), or a bodhisattva such as Maitreya as with the Tai Situ incarnation lineage. Each of these originating pre-incarnations is a direct student of Shakyamuni Buddha.

Sometimes there are competing systems for enumerating and naming the former births. One such notable figure that has two variant lists, or an abbreviated list and a long list, is the Panchen Lama of Tibet. The long list of Panchen Lama pre-incarnations includes Padmasambhava and Jowo Atisha. The Dalai Lama list includes King Trisong Detsen and Dromton. The 8th Tai Situ of the Karma Kagyu Tradition apparently also claimed to be the re-incarnation of Taranata from a completely separate unrelated incarnation lineage system belonging to the Jonang Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. The 32nd Sakya Tridzin Wangdu Nyingpo also boasts Padmasambhava as a pre-incarnation and claims to be the 2nd Padmasambhava of this 'age.' Both the Gelug Longdol Lama and the Karma Kagyu Tai Situpa claim to have the pre-incarnations of both Dombi Heruka and Marpa Chokyi Lodro in common.

The incarnation lineages, names and groups of related figures discussed here are only those that have identifiable works of art depicting those individuals. There are hundreds of other incarnation lineages in Tibetan and Himalayan Buddhism. It is possible that many of the paintings of Lamas that are currently unidentified are actually incarnation lineage paintings.

Incarnation Lineages Outline Page

Google Tags: Himalayan Art Resources

Jamgon Kongtrul (1813-1899) was a prolific writer of the 19th century as well as a compiler of the works of other scholars. He gathered together and included their written works into larger compendia of contextualized material and structered encyclopaedic collections - numbering approximately 150 volumes. Many of these works are invaluable resources of iconographic information and indispensable for the study of Himalayan and Tibetan art history. The most famous of Jamgon Kongtrul's compilations are called the Five Treasures:

1. The Treasure of Encyclopaedic Knowledge (shes bya kun la khyab pa'i mdzod), a massive work  covering all of the common and uncommon subjects of Tibetan Buddhism.

2. The Treasure of Precious Instructions (gdams ngag rin po che'i mdzod), the most important texts of eight of the principal transmission lineages of Tibetan Buddhism known as the Eight Chariots.

3. The Treasure of Kagyu Mantras (bka' brgyud sngags kyi mdzod), a collection of the most important practices of the Kagyu Tradition.

4. The Treasure of Precious Revealed Treasures (rin chen gter mdzod), the largest compiled collection of rare Nyingma Termas (Revealed Treasure teachings).

5. The Treasure of Extensive Teachings (rgya chen bka' mdzod), primarily Jamgon Kongtrul's own writings such as the commentaries on the Hevajra Tantra and the Khon Tradition Vajrakila, etc.

"The Kagyu tradition [Outline Page] originated in the 11th century with the Tibetan translator Marpa (mar pa), his famous disciple Milarepa (mi la ras pa) and his disciple Gampopa (sgam po pa), who merged the lay tradition with the Kadampa (bka' gdams pa) monasticism and scholarly focus that he had previously studied. Gampopa founded the first Kagyu monastery, Daglha Gampo (dwags lha sgam po) in Dagpo, southern Tibet. Following Gampopa the tradition split into multiple autonomous subsects, listed below. All claim allegiance to the tantric teachings of the Indian Mahasiddha tradition, primarily that of Naropa, in the form of the Six Doctrines of Naropa (na ro chos drug) and the doctrine of Mahamudra. The Kagyu were also heavily involved in the transmission of the Chakrasamvara, Hevajra, among other tantras of the Second Propagation era.

The traditional - though not very old - way of classifying the Kagyu lineages was evidently invented by members of the Drugpa Kagyu. These are all covered by the general term Dagpo Kagyu (dwags po bka' brgyud), the name stemming from the monastery Gampopa founded in 1121." (Dan Martin, 2009)

A new outline page for the Protectors of the Kagyu Tradition has been added. More links will be added as more examples of the special protectors of the various traditions are acquired.

Additional images and links have been added to the Refuge Field Main Page and Outline Page.

Karmapa Masterworks Page: there are many paintings that depict the Karmapa Lamas in all of their incarnations from the 12th century up to the 20th century. Some of the paintings are masterworks as well as good examples of the various Tibetan painting styles popular over the centuries. The small selection of works represented here are only what is currently available on the HAR website. There are many more paintings and sculpture in museum and private collections that are not yet included in the HAR database.

Karma Kagyu Outline Page "The Kagyud Tradition developed from the teachings of Naropa and Maitrepa. The main founders of all the sects of the Kagyud are the three Great Masters: Marpa, Milarepa and Gampopa. From these three Masters the Kagyud Lineage scattered into the four major and eight minor Lineages. It was from Gampopa's disciple, Phagmo Drupa that most of these lineages of the Kagyud Tradition came, spreading in many different directions. Presently there are four which have not faded and still exist: the Karma Kagyud, Drukpa Kagyud, Drigung Kagyud and Taglung Kagyud. The Dharma lineages of the others have become very subtle or thin (having mostly been absorbed into larger lineages)."

(Excerpt from the Opening of the Dharma, A Brief Explanation of the Essence of the Limitless Vehicles of the Buddha. Written by Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Chokyi Lodro. Translated by Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Chokyi Gyatso, Malaysia, October 1984).

Choying Dorje was both a Tibetan artist and a religious teacher - head of the Karma Kagyu (Kamtsang) Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism - the 10th Karmapa (1604-1674). His art is unique and the style recognizable. The paintings are known for bright colours, simple repetitive human figures and great detail and care when depicting animals and birds. Arhats were a popular theme as well as deity figures such as Avalokiteshvara, Tara and Marichi. The only nearly complete set of paintings known to have been done by Choying Dorje, and still in existence today, are a set of paintings depicting the Life Story of Shakyamuni Buddha.

Of the nearly two hundred works of art that Choying Dorje created during his life, and subsequently recorded in the various biographies, approximately thirty pieces are currently known to exist. The paintings are most plentiful with agreement amongst most scholars as to their authenticity and attribution. However, with the sculpture, there are fewer known pieces and a greater disagreement as to which sculpture can be accurately attributed to Choying Dorje. (See the Choying Dorje Outline Page).

A new outline page for the Karma Kagyu Lineage Painting Sets has been added to the site. This page accompanies the Lineage Sets Main Page posted previously. Dozens of new thematic image set pages have been created and hundreds of images have been reviewed in the process of trying to re-construct as many Karma Kagyu painting sets as possible. The principal lineage painting set is the 'Golden Garland' which depicts the lineage from Vajradhara, Tilopa, Naropa, Marpa, Milarepa and Gampopa to the 1st Karmapa Dusum Kyenpa. There are other painting sets which appear to be primarily incarnation lineage sets however more research needs to be done. Links to the five main incarnation teachers, Karmapa, Shamar, Situ, Gyaltasb and Nenang Pawo, are found on the Outline Page, Painting Sets Page and the Karma Kagyu traditions Main Page.