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 Hand Gestures & Mudras lists the principal buddhas, deities and Indian mahasiddhas and their unique gestures. The list is followed by an alphabetized version with the gestures listed by name.

Depictions of Tibetan and Himalayan teachers are generally depicted using the gestures of Shakyamuni Buddha or one of the Five Symbolic Buddhas. For example Vairochana Buddha is depicted with the hand gesture of Teaching the Dharma. This same gesture is used as the iconic gesture for the famous teachers such as Sakya Pandita, Buton Tamche Kyenpa, Bodong Panchen Chogle Namgyal, Tsongkapa, Ngorchen Kunga Zangpo and a number of Karmapas.

Ninety-nine percent (99%) of all gestures found in Himalayan and Tibetan art are represented in the examples found here which, for the most part, are the original source deities, or subjects, for all of these various gestures and for all subsequent uses and depictions in art.

Hand Drum (Skt.: damaru): a double-sided drum made of wood played in the right hand by twisting the wrist and causing the two strikers to beat against the stretched drum skins usually made of hide or snake skin. The damaru is a common ritual object of India. In Tantric Buddhism the drum is often placed next to the two principal ritual objects, the vajra and bell. The dissipating sound of the drum represents emptiness. The drum is generally made of wood although ivory is popular with wealthy teachers and the nobility. Sometimes two human skullcaps are fashioned into a drum exclusively for wrathful Tantric practices. A larger wooden version, round in shape, of the double-sided hand drum is used in the uniquely Tibetan Buddhist practice known as Cutting (Tib. Chod) popularized by the famous female Tantric practitioner Machig Labdron.

An even larger drum is used in temple rituals and dance performances. This drum (Tibetan: nga) is held with the left hand by a long handle and in the right hand a striker is wielded to produce the sound. For permanent installations this drum can be fastened in a wooden frame or suspended by rope from above.

This beautiful painting of Rakta Yamari, in an Eastern Tibetan Palpung Monastery painting style, has been updated with iconographic information for each of the figures. The most unusual figure is probaby the Vajra Sarasvati - top right corner - not commonly depicted in painting or sculpture. She is associated with the Yamari class of deities and found in the Yamari Tantras.

Himalayan and Tibetan art is primarily focussed on three subjects: Religious Studies, Iconography and Art History. The first of these, religion, is by far the most researched and studied. The second, iconography has come a long way especially with the seminal works of individuals such as Raghu Vira and Lokesh Chandra. Trailing at some distance behind is the study of the actual physical work of art and approaching it from the side of Art History.

What is it we are actually seeing in a painted composition? What is dictated by religious texts? How much freedom does the artist actually have?

Presented here is a sampling of two translations from the Tibetan language, 11th and 13th century, describing the iconographic appearance of Avalokiteshvara with four arms. These short works also follow closely with the older and original Sanskrit texts. Accompanying the texts are ten examples of Tibetan paintings which would be based either directly on these two texts, or on other similar texts of the time and from the various religious traditions - modelled on the same Sanskrit texts.

Look at these examples, comparing with the translated iconographic descriptions, and note the differences in composition, use of space, colour balancing, variations in ornamentation, body proportions, types and styles of textiles, integration of foreground with background, over-all balance, harmony and symmetry.

Although one of the most important teachers of 18th century Tibet, Tsewang Norbu is not well represented in painting and sculpture. The HAR website contains one image where Tsewang Norbu is depicted as the large central subject and three other images of paintings where he is portrayed as a secondary figure. It is likely that more images of this important author, teacher and diplomat will turn up in the near future now that we are on the look out for his distinctive iconographic appearance.

The Ashmolean Museum of Oxford, England, has re-opened after conducting a major face fift over the last five years. The Himalayan and Tibetan section is expanded with numerous objects on display - mostly sculpture - along with three Tibetan paintings. Additional images from the museum will be added to the Ashmolean section of the HAR website over the next few weeks and broken links will be repaired where possible.

Probably one of the most famous Tibetan contemporary artists of his time was the 10th Karmapa, Choying Dorje (1604-1674). It is said that he was trained in a traditional Menri Style and then later studied in a Kashmiri style. What is obviously apparent is that the examples of his work that have come down to us today are in a unique style - the style of Choying Dorje. The three images of paintings below are by the 10th Karmapa Choying Dorje).


See other works of art by Choying Dorje.

For the multi-faced and armed deity, note the gate-like halo surrounding the main figure. It is created to appear as if water, manipulated and suspended. Also see the throne beneath the central subject, rendered with the same treatment, and added figures supporting the pink lotus.

Probably the most unique set of paintings created by Choying Dorje is the life story of Shakyamuni Buddha. No explanation should be required, all that one need to do is look to see how special it is. Look at the colours, the forms, the composition, the rendering of the human figures, animals and birds.

The 10th Karmapa was also famous for his depictions of animals and birds. Notice in this painting of a yellow goddess how the sow and piglets beneath the deity figure are rendered far more life-like with a richness of detail than the yellow deity herself.

A capital 'C' contemporary artist, although sometimes trained traditionally, is often somebody that breaks the rules and is innovative. Sometimes the artist is copied by other artists and a new style is created from that, and at other times no one can follow where that artist has gone.

Choying Dorje is an example of a contemporary artist that was not followed by other artists. It also can't really be said that he was a traditional Tibetan artist either - he was an innovative contemporary artist of his time. I believe that he had a love of art, and of animals - clearly shown in his paintings and biography - and I believe that he created art for art's sake.

A new addition has been added to the Gelug Refuge Field Page. The added painting is very unusual as it seems to present the Buddha with the One Thousand Buddhas of this Age, the Dharma and Sangha as the principal focus. The Guru and Ishtadevata are represented at the top center by Vajrasattva, Tsongkapa and Vajrabhairava. Two Wealth Deities, both forms of Jambhala, are placed to the right and left sides of the Eight Great Bodhisattvas (Sangha) in the bottom tier of the of the composition - just above the pink lotus. The Dharma protectors, represented here by the Four Guardian Kings, are found below the pink lotus amongst the other worldly inhabitants of the Buddhist universe.

The earliest known painting of a Karma Kagyu Refuge Field composition has been updated with all of the figures numbered and named. Also see the colour coded image identifying and naming the various groupings of figures: Guru, Buddha, Dharma, Sangha, Meditational Deities, Protector Deities and Wealth Deities. At the top right and left are Manjushri and Maitreya accompanied by the Six Ornaments and Two Excellent Ones of the Southern Continent. Directly below those are miscellaneous Indian and Tibetan teachers. At the top center interspersed with the early teachers of the Mahamudra Lineage are the Eight Great Siddhas according to the system of Situ Panchen Chokyi Jungne.

When first looking at a painting such as this - a figure wearing red robes - the mind generally wants to identify the central figure first, possibly discern the relationship with the smaller side figures and then understand the over-all visual narrative, or iconographic program. Also included in this is the religious meaning and the intention for the creation of the work, based on the donor, and its corresponding function. An analysis of the painting based on all of the above criteria falls within the realm of the intellect, intellectual analysis of the subject. This is the approach most often taken by viewers of Himalayan art paintings such as this. However, what is missed is the aesthetic qualities of the painting, the composition, the colour balance and the symmetry. A useful technique to use for looking at painted compositions, that is not distracting to the eye and mind with intellectual analysis, is to invert the image.

The unusual iconographic form of Avalokiteshvara known as Hari Hari Hari Lokeshvara is depicted in a peaceful form with multiple arms seated atop the Hindu god Vishnu, atop Vishnu's mount - Garuda, and further atop a lion. Three small image examples are given of which only one is currently on the HAR website. The images show differences in the hand attributes and in one example a variation in how the god Vishnu is depicted and confused with the god of eclipse - Rahula.

The Milarepa Main Page has been updated with additional images and a short illustrated biography. There are still more images being acquired from various private and institutional collections. These will also be added to the site in the next few weeks along with images of Tibetan teachers that are often confused with or similar in appearace to Milarepa.

A short biography/hagiography of the Bon religious teacher Tapihritsa has been uploaded to the HAR site. The narrator of the story is Lobpon Tenzin Namdak, a senior teacher of the Bon Religion.

The large sculpture of Kunzang Akor, discussed in a previous post, has been added to the HAR database along with detail images.

Additional images have been added to the database entry for the famous Menri Monastery silver Drenpa Namkha sculpture. The image has also been added to the Bon Sculpture Masterworks page.

This beautiful Sherab Chamma sculpture has been added to the database. Sherab Chamma is the principal female deity/goddess of the Bon Religion and can appear in many forms [see outline page]. The image here is only black and white but regardless the beauty of the piece stands out immediately. The face is quite lovely and the body proportions are very good. The image has also been added to the Sherab Chamma masterworks page.

Presented here is a chart listing all of the standard appearances of Padmasambhava and those appearances in combination with other immediately related iconographic subjects.

The Padmasambhava Iconographic Sub-sets Chart is a work in progress based on the chart created for Tonpa Shenrab - posted some weeks ago. We are attempting to systematize, categorize and prioritize the visual occurrences of Padmasambhava with the intention of making it easier to identify, name and contextualize the various forms of Guru Rinpoche as they occur in painting and sculpture.

On a recent art survey trip to China, the HAR Team discovered that while working with Chinese and Tibetan colleagues, there was no common language or system in place for discussing the numerous and varied visual occurrences of Padmasambhava. This became even more apparent when cataloguing vast numbers of paintings, in the hundreds, from broken sets depicting subjects such as the life story of Padmasambhava, wrathful forms, meditational forms, the Eight Manifestations relating to the life-story, etc., etc. 

This is our first attempt to try and bring some order to this very large and complicated subject that has a voluminous wealth of paintings and sculpture spread throughout the world. In terms of quantities of art representing various subjects, aside from representations of the Buddhas, Arhats, Peaceful Deities and Wrathful Deities, the subject of Padmasambhava is probably the next most prolific and in immediate need of systematization (which the other categories of art subjects have already received either within the Buddhist traditions themselves over the past centuries or by modern art historians and religious studies scholars in the previous century).

So, please be patient, this is still a work in progress.

This set of five paintings was commissioned in Northern India in 2007/2008 and depict the historical Buddha Shakyamuni in the first composition and four famous teachers belonging to the Nyingma, Sakya, Kagyu and Gelug Traditions in the accompanying four paintings.

Shakyamuni Buddha is surrounded by the Six Ornaments & Two Excellent Ones of the Southern Continent. For the Nyingma Tradition Longchenpa Drime Ozer is depicted. For the Sakya it is Sakya Pandita Kunga Gyaltsen. For the Kagyu it is Milarepa Zhepa Dorje and for the Gelug Tsongkapa Lobzang Dragpa. Each figure, major and minor - in the five painted compositions, is accompanied by a name inscription written in the Tibetan 'U-chen' script.

The other name worthy Buddhist lineages of Tibet such as Kadam, Rwa, Shangpa Kagyu, Jonang, Bodong and Bulug are represented by individual teachers in the four paintings depicting the four principal traditions. Over the next few weeks the five images will be greyscaled and each figure numbered and related to a numbered list of names for easy identification.

Most of the sculpture in the HAR database are identified as to subject and origin, however some pieces defy identification. In those rare cases the objects are often not Himalayan in origin, or Tibetan, or Mongolian, etc.,  and may not be related to Tibetan Buddhism or the Bon Religion at all. Sometimes the pieces are poorly crafted, or belong to a larger composition and not understandable and identifiable unless in context with the whole.

To facilitate a greater ease for investigation some of the stranger pieces on the HAR website have been put together into a single group of images - Sculpture - Strange, Weird & Unidentified. Also related to this subject are  the links for Weird & Fantastical Gods & Deities, Animal Headed Gods & Deities along with the three groupings of images on Unidentified Subjects, Siddhas and Teachers. Please let us know if you are successful in identifying any or all of the uncatalogued images.

This Kunzang Akor is the most important Bon sculpture to appear in years. Back in 2006 a Sherab Chamma sculpture in the collection of LACMA, previously described as an early Himalayan goddess, was identified as a very early standing figure of the most important female deity of the Bon religion. Now, this Kunzang Akor has surfaced from a private collection. It is large, beautifully cast and appears to be from the Khassa Malla workshops of West Nepal. It is possible that it was created for the Bon temples in the Dolpo region of West Nepal. The image is not yet uploaded to the HAR website but will be added soon. See more images of the figure of Kunzang Akor.