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The 22 images depicted in this gallery are a compendium of the various Tibetan worldly spirits that occupy and haunt Tibetan history and folk life stories - some are imported from Indian cultural beliefs and narratives. Often the spirits are the projected demons and obstacles overcome during religious and village rituals of the Bon, Buddhist and Himalayan Tribal religious and spiritual groups. Sometimes the spirits are understood to be mental afflictions or disease and at other times they are real physically appearing monsters that can cause great harm to adults, children, livestock and property.

Romanized names and contextual information will be added over the next week or so.

The protector deity Begtse Chen, (English: the Great Coat of Mail. Sanskrit name: Prana Atma), was popularized within the Sarma (new) Schools of Tibetan Buddhism by Marpa Lotsawa (1012-1096) and Sachen Kunga Nyingpo (1092-1158), the respective founders of the Marpa Kagyu and Sakya Traditions of Tibetan Buddhism. The protector was later adopted and incorporated into the Gelug School of Tsongkapa and subsequently became popular in Mongolia - predominantly following the Gelug tradition since the 17th century. Begtse Chen is the main protector associated with the Hayagriva cycle of Tantric Deity meditation practice.

For over one hundred years numerous scholars in the West  have published the history of Begtse erroneously as beginning with the 3rd Dalai Lama and the subjugation of a Mongolian war god - referring to the protector deity Begtse. A common source given for the Western source of the story, based on Mongolian oral history, is Albert Grunwedel (1856-1935). In Tibetan Buddhism Begtse is believed to have originated in India. The practice entered Tibet with Nyen Lotsawa in the 11th century. (See the Common Confusions About Protectors Glossary).

It is commonly said by some sources in Mongolia that there were three Begtse Chen coral masks made at approximately the turn of the century a little over a hundred years ago. Currently there are at least three masks in museums in Mongolia, another mask is in the collection of the Rubin Museum of Art in New York City. Aside from these there are numerous masks available on the Asian art market either real or copies. It is not easy to distinguish between the original Mongolian masks and the modern copies.

Begtse Mask:

1. Zanabazar Museum, Ulan Bator, Mongolia

2. Chojin Lama Temple, Ulan Bator, Mongolia

3. Danza Rabjaa Museum Sainshand, Mongolia

4. Rubin Museum of Art, New York, USA

5. Others....

Bon Chorten (Tibetan: mchod rten) are reliquary mounds comparable to the Buddhist stupa. Bon chorten can be immediately distinguished from the Buddhist stupa by a set of Horned Eagle (kyung) horns that are placed on the top of the spire. In the Bon Religion there are 121 chorten designs intended for use on the earth. There are a further 121 for the sky and another 121 for the underworld. These images depict the 121 for use on the earth.

Mindrolling Monastery, located in the Drachi Valley of U-tsang, was founded in 1676 by Terdag Lingpa Gyurme Dorje, the 1st Mindrolling Trichen - throne holder. Mindrolling is also regarded as one of the six principal monasteries of the Nyingma Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism.

The monastery of Shalu, approximately 40 kilometers from Shigatse, was founded in 1040 A.D. by Chetsun Sherab Jungne. At the suggestion of Buton Rinchen Drub (1290-1364 ) the monastery was expanded and elaborately decorated by Kunzang Dragpa Gyaltsen in the early 14th century. For an overview see the Shalu Association: Monastery Report.

1. Main Temple: Images 1, Images 2

2. Avalokiteshvara Chapel: Images

3. Ordination Temple: Images 1, Images 2, Images 3

4. Retreat Center (Atisha Cave): Images

The Six Ornaments and Two Excellent Ones of the Southern Continent is the name given to the group of the most important Indian Buddhist scholars of the Mahayana Tradition. The two foremost among the first six are Nagarjuna, founder of the Madyamaka Tadition, and Asanga, founder of the Yogachara tradition. Their two principal students were Aryadeva and Vasubhandu respectively, followed by the two, Dharmakirti and Dignaga. These six constitute the 'six ornaments.'

The 'two excellent ones' are Gunaprabha and Shakyaprabha. The 'southern continent' refers to India, or the human continent of Jambudvipa in the Buddhist cosmological system where there are four continents that surround the central mountain (Sumeru) of a small world system.

The Six Ornaments Main Page and Outline Page have been updated along with the addition of painting and drawing sets.

The Six Mother Monasteries of the Nyingma Tradition are Katog Dorje Den (founded in 1159), Tubten Dorje Drag (1632), Palyul Namgyal Jangchub Ling (1665), Urgyan Mindroling (1676), Dzogchen Urgyan Samten Choling (1685) and Shechen Tennyi Dargye Ling (1735). This version of the six was promoted by the Shechen Rabjam incarnation line of Shechen Monastery.

An earlier list has the monastery of Chongye Palri Tegchog Ling in place of Shechen Monastery. Dodrubchen Monastery is sometimes substituted for Katog. Samye was the first Buddhist monastery in Tibet established by King Trisong Detsen and Shantirakshita with the help of Padmasambhava. Samye is not included in the list of six probably for a number of different reasons such as its importance for all of Tibetan Buddhism and the fact that it has been under Sakya administration for more than several centuries.

The Eight Chariots of Spiritual Accomplishment is a 16th century classification of Tibetan religious traditions. The system was later  popularized by Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taye in the 19th century. The Eight Chariot system lists what Kongtrul promotes, in several publications, as the significant practice traditions of Tibetan Buddhism. Kongtrul uses this Eight Chariot formulation in structuring the Dam Ngag Dzo collection of practices. It is also important to mention that Kongtrul was not fixed on one system or one presentation but used a number of other variations of the Eight Chariots system in other writings. Several painting sets are known to have been created depicting the principal teachers and deity practices of the Eight Chariots of Spiritual Accomplishment.

Images of various Anuttarayoga Tantric meditational deities accompanied by the initiation & teaching lineages of the Sakya & Ngor Tradition.

Images of various Anuttarayoga Tantric meditational deities of the Sakya Tradition. The paintings are from the Kham region of Eastern Tibet and likely commissioned and created in the Dege area.

Images and biography of Chetsun Sengge Wangchug (12th century) the originator of the Chetsun Nyingtig and later re-discovered by Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo (1820-1892).

The three composition painting set depicts the Karma Kagyu Mahamudra Lineage ending with the 14th Gyalwa Karmapa, Tegchog Dorje (1799-1869). The iconographic details in each painting are really fascinating. The lineage begins in the central Marpa painting with the primordial Buddha Vajradhara at the top center. Directly above Milarepa is the Indian siddha Tilopa. Directly above Gampopa is Naropa. The lineage then descends through the Marpa composition and then moving again to the Milarepa painting followed by the Gampopa painting and the completion of the lineage up to the 14th Karmapa.

At the lower center of the Marpa painting is a depiction of the 10th Shamar Mipam Chodrub Gyatso (1742-1792). At the lower center of the Milarepa composition is what appears to be a Tai Situ, possibly Chokyi Jungne. At the lower center of the Gampopa composition is the 5th Karmapa Deshin Shegpa (1384-1415).

The Mindroling Monastery was founded in 1676 by Terdag Lingpa Gyurme Dorje (1646-1714). In the 19th century Mindroling was included as one of the six great monastic institutions of the Nyingma Tradition along with others, both new and old, such as Katog, Dorje Drag, Payul, Shechen  and Dzogchen. Some of the art and iconography of Mindroling is distinctive because of either identifiable historical figures like Terdag Lingpa, unique iconography or name inscriptions written on the paintings or sculpture.

Generally with Nyingma art, when it is possible to identify a sub-tradition, it can be contextualized either by monastic institution or by individual lineage  - 'kama' or 'terma' - such as with Pema Lingpa, Dorje Lingpa, Dudjom Lingpa, etc.

The navigation page listing individuals with a graphic Outline Page has been updated along with the navigation page for Religious Traditions.

A Biography of Lowo Khenchen Sonam Lhundrub (b.1456/1441 - d.1532/1525), the most famous 16th century Ngorpa teacher of Mustang (Lo Montang), has been uploaded to the website to accompany the images of paintings and sculpture. Almost every major collection of Tibetan sculpture in museum or private hands will have a figure of Lowo Khenchen. After the Five Founding Teachers (Jetsun Gongma Nga) of Sakya and then the founder of Ngor Monastery, Ngorchen Kunga Zangpo -  Lowo Khenchen is surely the most common portrait image of a Sakya teacher. The images of Lowo Khenchen on the HAR website do not properly reflect the total number of images that are extant in known collections.  More images will be uploaded to the Lowo Khenchen page in the near future.

The Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art was the first museum represented on the Himalayan Art Resources website back in early spring of 1998. Many of the painting descriptions have recently been reviewed and updated. Some identifications have changed, additional links have been added. Painting Sets images have also been added to all compositions belonging to larger painting sets.

A quick guide outline page has been added for the Himalayan art collection of The Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago. The work of documenting the collection continues and the next project will be to catalogue the Block print collection.

"This collection includes approximately 4,400 secular and religious objects that were acquired in China and eastern Tibet by Field Museum anthropologist Berthold Laufer in 1908-09. Nearly all date from the 17th through the 19th century. The highlights of this collection include more than 1,000 traditional Tibetan books, both printed and hand written woodblocks, 850 costumes and personal accessories, 800 ritual containers and images and 350 tangka paintings. These objects comprise one of the largest and best-provenanced Tibetan collections in the United States." (The paragraph above is taken from the Field Museum website).

Although physically kept together as a set of three paintings and displayed on the HAR website as a set of three paintings, the three compositions were not likely to have been originally intended or created as a three painting set.

The Choggyur Lingpa painting appears to be the earliest and executed in an Eastern Tibetan Kham style of painting. It has the cleanest brush strokes and the most carefully rendered portrait. Looking at the three paintings together it is important to note that Choggyur Lingpa passed away in 1870.

The painting of Jamgon Kongtrul reflects a true late 19th century Palpung monastery style of painting. Here Kongtrul is depicted as an old man with white hair and wearing extra clothing appearing as a white short sleeved shirt noticable on the proper right arm. His face shows wrinkles and the actual hand prints display clear signs of serious arthritis with the irregular shapes and twisting of the fingers. Kongtrul passed away in 1899.

The Khyentse Wangpo composition is the simplest of the three employing blocks of colour and spheres to frame the various line drawn figures. The face of Khyentse and the iconography is very standard with no attempt to show personality, portrait like features, or reflect the age of Khyentse at the time of commissioning. Khyentse passed away in 1892.

The three paintings appear to be created by three different artists at three different times. The Choggyur Lingpa is likely to have been the first and the Jamgon Kongtrul the last. It is also important to mention that all three paintings have different brocade mounts. The sizes need to be confirmed and then also considered. Since the three reside in the same location it must be assumed that they came together at some point and then over time began to be considered a set, no doubt also because of the modern printing in publications, as religious cards and posters, all three side by side, stripped of the brocade mounts.

Mipam Chokyi Wangchug, 6th Shamar Incarnation of the Karma Kagyu (Kamtsang) Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. Shamarpa is considered an emanation of Amitabha Buddha and known as the Red Hat Karmapa following after the Black Hat Karmapa. This composition is number 26 in a larger set of paintings depicting the abbreviated Mahamudra Lineage of the Karma Kagyu Tradition. (See the Karma Kagyu Lineage Sets Main Page and Outline Page).

Mahachakra Vajrapani is a Tantric form of the bodhisattva Vajrapani - appearing as a meditational deity - regarded as completely enlightened. Just as there are many forms of Vajrapani, so also are there many varieties of Mahachakra both with consort and without.

This textile composition of Vajrapani executed in a Chinese embroidery technique is regarded as one of the best examples of its type found in any collection worldwide. Observed closely, small beads of red coral and white pearls have been added as real ornaments and decorations. They can especially be seen decorating the hair of Mahachakra Vajrapani. Throughout the textile composition the thick gold threads are actually hair, often horse hair, wrapped with gold wire.