The Himalayan Art Resources website 'Home Page' has been update with some minor changes and clearer navigation. The left-hand menu located on all HAR secondary pages has been added to the Home Page. The three large image buttons have been dedicated to the mediums of Painting, Sculpture and Textile. The most recent four News Updates from the News Page are now listed automatically on the HAR Home Page. If you have suggestions or ideas for improvements - please let us know.
In the Nyingma Tradition the Guhyagarbha Tantra (8th to 10th century) is considered the most important of all Tantras. It describes two basic mandala configurations - one of forty-two peaceful deities and another of fifty-eight wrathful deities. There is a clear organization and a structured hierarchy in the Tantra and the two mandalas. There is also a clear relationship between the deities of the Guhyagarbha Tantra and the various Tibetan traditions of the Bardo Todal (Tibetan Book of the Dead).
The Forty-two Peaceful and Fifty-eight Wrathful Deities of the Guhyagarbha Mandala are the basis for the iconography and the creation of paintings depicting the subject of the 'Bardo' - Tibetan Book of the Dead. In the Nyingma Tradition the Guhyagarbha Tantra (8th to 10th century) is considered the most important of all Tantras. The 'Terton' Karma Lingpa, in the 14th century, is credited with the discovery of the 'treasure text' known as the Liberation Through Hearing in the Bardo (aka Tibetan Book of the Dead), a text intended to be read to the deceased and to influence positively the subsequent rebirth. (There is evidence to suggest that the famous 'Treasure Finder' of the Bon Religion - Shenchen Luga - had discovered similar texts in the 11th century).
When looking at Nyingma paintings of the peaceful and wrathful deities grouped in clusters of forty-two and fifty-eight it is very difficult to know what the intended specific subject is meant to be. It raises the questions - are all peaceful & wrathful deity paintings intended to be representations of the Guhyagarbha Mandalas based on the Guhyagarbha Tantra - the original source of the iconography? Are some of the paintings intended to depict the system of Karma Lingpa and the Bardo Todal - well known in the West? If so, and if the deities are the same, then how can one tell the difference? To complicate the matter further, do some of the peaceful and wrathful paintings also represent the half dozen or more of the other versions of the Bardo Todal manuscripts, and described peaceful and wrathful deities, based on the later revelations of Nyingma teachers such as Choggyur Lingpa in the 19th century?
To come to some temporary solution to this identification problem on the HAR site, any painting depicting the 'Peaceful & Wrathful Deities' that appears in concentric circles, also representing the entire group of deities, have been placed under the subject heading of 'Bardo.' All other paintings of peaceful and wrathful deities are included under the broad classification of Guhyagarbha Tantra (Peaceful & Wrathful Deities) and the more specific subjects of Samantabhadra, Heruka and Chemchog - the central subjects of those paintings and central subjects of the Guhyagarbha Mandalas.
Objects in the HAR database that are without doubt related to the Karma Lingpa system of Bardo:
- Manuscript 1 (complete)
- Manuscript 2 (complete)
- Manuscript 3 (complete)
- Initiation Cards (Karling Shitro)
- Initiation Cards (Karling Shitro)
- Initiation Cards (Karling Shitro Misc.)
Yama in Hell as understood in Himalayan & Tibetan Buddhism and subsequent artistic representations might appear at first glance to be a simple topic, not too profound, nothing complicated, and so it seems.
Here are some basic questions:
1. Who is Yama according to Buddhism?
2. How is Yama described?
3. Is Yama a living being, a personification, a deity, or a god?
4. Is the Buddhist Yama the same as the Hindu Yama (is there a Hindu - Vedic/Puranic - Yama)?
Field of Accumulation, or Refuge Field: A Refuge Field is a particular type of iconographic composition that arranges all of the teachers and deities of a particular religious tradition (Tibetan Buddhist or Bon Religion) in one painted composition as formulated by individual religious traditions and as described in liturgical texts. The function of a Refuge Field is to be a visual composition reminding the devotee of all of the most sacred objects contained in the tradition, and in this case the Lama, Sanggye, Bon, Sempa, Yidam, Khandro and Sungma.
Based solely on observation there appears to be two types of Bon Refuge Field Paintings easily distinguishable by the iconography of the central figures. The first type depicts the figure of (1) Nyamme Sherab Gyaltsen. He is shown in his typical iconographic form wearing monastic robes and a lotus hat, holding flower blossoms supporting a sword and book. The second type of Refuge Field painting depicts the deity (2) Shenlha Okar, white in colour, seated in a posture of meditation with the hands placed in the lap. It is commonly said that the Shenlha Okar type was designed by Shardza Tashi Gyaltsen (1859-1933).
The oldest of the Bon Refuge Field paintings catalogued on the HAR site is #98896 belonging to the Hahn Collection. Unfortunately we do not have permission as yet to display the images from that collection. However, the painting is likely to be dated as early to mid 19th century and from Central Tibet. Many of the other Refuge Field paintings are of late 19th or 20th century creation and from Eastern Tibet.
Shenlha Okar Type: HAR #81494, 99000, 200013, 200016.
Nyamme Sherab Gyaltsen Type: HAR #64402, 70112, 70142, 98896.
Heruka is a Sanskrit word that has a number of different meanings depending on the Tantra literature in which it is defined. In the Tibetan language the word heruka is translated as drag tung which means blood drinker. This translation of the Tibetan word is more descriptive than it is etymological. When the term heruka is used in art and iconography it generally has three different meanings as found below.
In the Nyingma (Old) Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism Heruka generally refers to any male-meditational deity, wrathful in appearance, typically with three faces, six arms, four legs, wings and a consort. There are eight famous and specific Nyingma Heruka deities originating with the Eight Vidyadhara teachers of the early tradition. Some deities with a semi-peaceful - semi-wrathful appearance, arising from specific Revealed Treasure Traditions, may also be referred to as Heruka.
In the Sarma (New) Traditions of Sakya, Kagyu, Jonang and others, the term Heruka is typically understood to mean any complex Anuttarayoga male-meditational deity, peaceful or wrathful, that appears in a simplified form with one face, two arms and a consort.
In the Gelug Tradition (also belonging to the Sarma) the term Heruka is almost exclusively used to refer to the complex meditational deity Chakrasamvara in all aspects, complex with multiple faces and arms or the simple with one face and two arms, and all the variations in between.
Purification is an important subject in Buddhism and visual depictions related to purification can be divided into two clear divisions.
The first division is Mahayana Buddhism where purification is accomplished by the recitation of the Confession Sutra while visualizing the thirty-five Buddhas mentioned by name in that Sutra. Paintings of the Thirty-five Confession Buddhas are numerous.
The second division is Vajrayana Buddhism where Purification Deities are a small but important sub-class of deities in Tantric practice. The three principle deities are Vajrasattva, Vajravidarana and Vajradaka. Numerous forms of all three deities are found in the Tantric Buddhist pantheon. There are a number of other less known deities and specialized ritual practices. Many of the more specialized forms do not have any painted images or sculptural representations.
Long-life Deities are a sub-class of deities in Tantric Buddhism. The three principle and well known subjects are Amitayus Buddha, White Tara and Ushnishavijaya. Collectively they are simply known as the 'tse lha nam sum' - Three Long-life Deities. There are a number of other less known deities such as Amaravajradevi, forms of White Chakrasamvara, and all of the specialized forms of the important cycles of Mahakala such as Panjaranata, Chaturmukha, Shadbhuja, and others too numerous and specialized to discuss here. Many of the more specialized forms do not have any painted images or sculptural representations.
"Not All Wrathful Deities are Protectors, Not All Protectors are Wrathful Deities."
To unravel the statement above and to approach some sense of the meaning then there needs to be an understanding of Iconography. In Himalayan and Tibetan style art the study of Tantric Buddhist Iconography involves the combination of six subjects:
1. The Traditional Tantric Buddhist Hierarchy of Figurative Subjects.
2. The Manner of Depicting the Classes of Figures of the Hierarchy.
3. The Three Traditional Descriptive Categories.
4. The Four Tantric Buddhist Activities.
5. The Traditional Categories of Deities According to Function.
6. The Four Classes of Buddhist Tantra.
Some of these subjects have already been partially explored while others have only been hinted at. Over the next few weeks each of the six topics will be dealt with more fully along with lists, definitions and examples for each.
In Tibetan paintings Brahmarupa Mahakala, depicted as a central or secondary figure, has quite often been confused for an Indian teacher or mahasiddha, and actually, this has been done on purpose. The appearance of Brahmarupa as commonly found in Tibetan art is merely a place card holder for the Mahakala known as 'four faced' - Chaturmukha - associated with the Guhyasamaja Tantra.
In the Sakya Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism it was traditionally not permitted to show publicly the image of Chaturmukha to anyone that had not received the initiation into the secret practices and rituals. The form of Brahmarupa was used as an image that could appear on publicly accessible paintings without breaking any of the strict restrictions. This strict practice is still current within the Sakya Tradition today. However, the Gelug Tradition was not as strict and over the course of time many paintings depicting Chaturmukha were created.
Paintings of both the Brahmarupa and Chaturmukha depictions have now made their way into museum and private collections in Asia, Europe and North America. So, for the purposes of correctly identifying these subjects this topic has been discussed and the Brahmarupa Outline Page created.
Clearing Up Confusions: Further clarification regarding the figures in Himalayan & Tibetan Art associated with death & the figures that use death as a metaphor: Yama, Yamantaka, Yamari, Bhairava and Vajrabhairava.
The specialty glossary of Caution Words & Sensitive Subjects has been updated and additional illustrations have been added. Further updates are planned for the glossary with longer explanations for the more complicated and confused subjects such as Yama, Yamantaka and Vajrabhairava amongst others.
Historical figures such as Padmasambhava, Karma Pakshi, and the 5th and 13th Dalai Lamas are known for their moustache and goatee appearance. Tang Tong Gyalpo, Shabdrung Ngagwang Namgyal, Terdag Lingpa and others are known for wearing a full and flowing beard.
On the 'Men with Beards Page' where an individual is specifically named then the beard is a distinct iconographic feature in their standard iconography. For images of arhats and mahasiddhas then the beard is generally a creation of the artist. Traditionally the Vinaya code of Buddhist Monastics prohibits the wearing of a beard. Monks are required to be clean shaven. However, disheveled with a scruffy but not quite bearded, appearance can also be common for monks, as well as for the Sixteen Arhats and those siddhas that are depicted in 'mahasiddha' appearance. (Mahasiddhas typically have three types of appearance: [1] Lay, [2] Monastic, and [3] Siddha).
Chinese Kings, Brahmins and Indians in general, usually depicted as secondary figures, are often shown with a beard. The Four Guardian Kings are depicted with beards as are many Tibetan worldly gods and worldly protectors. Wrathful male deities, in general, have orange or red facial hair - eyebrows, moustache, beard - flowing upward like flames. Wrathful female deities often have the same facial hair as the males.
More to come about Wrathful Deities, Peaceful Deities, Semi-Peaceful and Semi-Wrathful Deities, Protectors and Categories of Deities........
Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo (1820-1892) was one of the most exciting Tibetan Buddhist teachers of the 19th century. He was a prolific writer as well as inspiring others to write. Khyentse Wangpo along with Jamgon Kongtrul, Choggyur Lingpa, Loter Wangpo and others produced 100s of volumes of texts on all subjects related to Buddhism, history, art and Tibetan culture in general.
Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo Outline Page
Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo Main Page
Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo Illustrated Biography
Manjushri is most commonly known as a bodhisattva, principal student and interlocator, of Shakyamuni Buddha as found and described in the Mahayana sutras. However, in Tantric Buddhism, Manjushri is understood to be a completely enlightened Buddha with a wide range of iconographic appearances, both peaceful and wrathful. These various appearances are used as Tantric meditations. This page has been created to exhibit Manjushri's most common Tantric forms found in Himalayan and Tibetan style art.
The Yama Dharmaraja Main Page has been updated.
Yama Dharmaraja, an emanation of Manjushri, is a Tantric Buddhist - wisdom deity - associated specifically with the Vajrabhairava Tantra. His function is that of a protector to aid those practitioners that have taken up the meditational deity practices of Vajrabhairava. The practices of both of these deities are found in all of the Sarma Traditions of Tibetan Buddhism (Sakya, Kagyu, Gelug, etc.), however the Gelugpa School holds Yama Dharmaraja in a special regard as one of their three principal religious protectors (along with the Shadbhuja Mahakala and Vaishravana).
Related Links:
Yama Dharmaraja Mandala Elements
A page has been created to display the various images of Yama that are found in Himalayan and Tibetan style art. They are a selection of different artist depictions of Yama, the 'judge of beings', from the Hell Realm depictions found in the Buddhist Wheel of Life paintings. Yama is understood to be a living being, actually the King of the Preta (ghost) realm, who functions as the judge of beings entering hell. The reason why he is catagorized as a ghost is because no being can actually exist in hell unless they have been born there due to bad actions committed in previous lives (karma). In various versions of Hinduism Yama is categorized as a god and in Indian literature Yama and Yami, a brother and sister, are associated with hell. The Wheel of Life and these depictions of Yama are based on Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism and this particular Buddhist understanding of the person of Yama and the hell realm is based on the Abhidharmakosha writings of Vasubhandu.
Description based on art depictions:
1. Name: Yama, King of the Law (of Karma)
2. Status: King of the Preta Realm
3. Life Status: living being of the Preta Realm
4. Function: Judge of beings entering the Hell Realm
5. Appearance: wrathful (raksha-like)
6. Colour: blue or dark red
7. Hand Attributes: butcher's stick & mirror
8. Attendants: (two) Deer-face & Raksha-faced figures
In Buddhist Tantric systems the popular Hindu divinities are quite often employed as minor worldly 'gods' filling the ranks of the outer retinue of many complex Buddhist Meditational Deities and their mandalas. Also, in a number of the Buddhist mandalas of wrathful deities such as Hevajra and Chakrasamvara the eight Hindu gods are placed in the eight surrounding cemeteries. Yama, as the Hindu god of hell is included in this group of eight.
Also included on the Yama page are three Wheel of Life paintings that depict 'Death' - the terrifying personification of death (samsara, cyclic existence) who holds the Wheel of Life between the two hands, held up to the mouth, about to be swallowed. In these paintings the figure of 'Death' is depicted without any wrathful ornaments as is proper according to orthodox iconography. Painters will often decorate the personification of Samsara in Wheel of Life paintings with the same ornaments as a Buddhist wrathful deity, such as the crown of five skulls, ribbons, bracelets and anklets, etc. However, this figure holding the Wheel of Life is merely a personification of death, impermanence, and the misery of cyclic existence. This wrathful angry figure is not conceived of as being a living entity like Yama in the Hell realm, or a Hindu god, or a deity of any type.
Images & Topics Relating to Hell:
What museum collections are upcoming on the HAR website? Well, there isn't a straight forward answer to this question because the HAR website very rarely has the complete Himalayan and Tibetan art collection of any museum. Images are being added to the existing Museums on the website all the time as the images become available. Many museums just simply don't have everything photographed or don't want to show images of what they consider to be poor quality art in their collections. The better the museum the less willing to share everything - especially if it is a fine art museum.
The HAR Team has provided a Museums Progress Outline Page listing the museums that are currently being worked on as of February 2010. Some of the museums are already represented on HAR and others are new. The museums already represented have new images waiting to be added to their online HAR galleries and the images from new museums are being catalogued for inclusion on HAR for the first time (meaning catalogued by the HAR Team).
Private collections are not represented on this Museums Progress Outline Page although the private collections make up for a large percentage of the images in the database. A separate 'progress page' will be created for private collections as well as collections of mural images from Tibet and Nepal. Currently there is a backlog of approximately 10,000 images, much of it art in situ, to go up on the HAR website.
The Yutog Nyingtig, or Heart Essence of Yutog, is named after Yutog Yontan Gonpo the famous Tibetan Doctor of the 8-9th century Tibet. The art relating to this subject are images of (1) Yutog Yontan Gonpo, images of the meditational deity and retinue (2) Hayagriva, and images of the special protector of the teachings (3) Guhyanata Mahakala and his eight deity retinue. Partial sets of paintings, sculpture and initiation cards are represented in the HAR database.
