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Simhamukha means 'lion-faced' and refers principally to three unrelated deities in Tantric Buddhism. The first appears most prominently as a central figure whereas the other two are always secondary in position. As a meditational deity Simhamukha is associated with the [1a] Chakrasamvara Tantra and [1b] as a 'Terma' discovery of the Nyingma Tradition. [2] Simhamukha is a retinue deity belonging to the One Hundred Peaceful and Wrathful Deities of the Guhyagarbha Tantra. [3] Simhamukha is the second attendant figure belonging to the retinue of Shri Devi Magzor Gyalmo. All three of these deities, although similar in appearance with the lion face, are unrelated as to origin, function and hierarchy.

Vajrapani in the form of Bhutadamara is found in a number of different Tantra texts principally the Bhutadamara Tantra (Charya), the Vajrapanjara Tantra (Anuttarayoga and the Vajradakini Tantra (Anuttarayoga). He typically has four hands with the first pair held at the heart in the demon subduing gesture. The only difference between the first two examples are the supine forms underneath the two Vajrapanis. In the first form the figure underfoot has an elephant face. In the second form it is the regular face of a deity. The third form of Bhutadamara is unusual because he does not perform the usual demon subduing gesture which is the Bhutadamara trademark in the earlier examples, instead he holds a vajra, skullcup, banner, a bow and arrow - all in four hands. In paintings, the third form is only found in the company of Maharakta Ganapati (as the central figure).

White Manjushri and White Tara are identical in body posture but not in what they hold. Manjushri has the two attributes of a book on top of an utpala flower held in the left hand. White Tara simply holds a white lotus in the left hand. Of the two common forms of White Tara, with one face and two hands, the more famous of the two has seven eyes on the body: three on the face, two on the palms of the hands, two on the soles of the feet. The Atisha form of White Tara only has the standard two eyes (not on the hands and feet). Note how the face of the male Manjushri figure has a more square face with a flat horizontal hairline. The female figure of Tara has an oval face almost egg-shaped. In Himalayan art, observing the shape of the face is the quickest way to identify male and female figures especially for art created after the 16th century.

Although White Manjushri, who is classified by function as a wisdom deity (see outline), or wisdom producing deity, and White Tara, classified as a long-life deity (see outline), are essentially unrelated except for both belonging to the Kriya classification of Tantra (see outline) - a system of classifying all Buddhist Tantras into four levels based on complexity: [1] Kriya, [2] Charya, [3] Yoga and [4] Anuttarayoga.

A new Tangtong Gyalpo Outline Page has been added to the site. It is a work in progress and there are still more images to locate and catalogue aswell as additional links to connect.

Tangtong Gyalpo Tsondru Zangpo (1385/61-1464/85) typically appears as an old man with long white hair, a long white beard, and depicted in a seated posture. Sometimes he is shown with a very dark complexion - dark brown. There are no typical hand attributes for Tangtong Gyalpo, but, he sometimes holds a medicinal pill in the upraised right hand, or a link of chain in the right hand - extended across the knee. The left hand can hold a skullcup in the lap, a long-life vase, or a combination of the two. He is generally depicted in a very relaxed seated posture, the feet bare.

The dates of Tangtong Gyalpo are not precisely known because of the different sources of the time not being in agreement (1385/61-1464/85). He can however be easily placed in the 14th/15th century because of the historical accounts of people that he met and the accounts of people who met him.

Tangtong Gyalpo was famous for building iron bridges throughout Tibet as well as creating many new medicinal formulas for both healing and longevity. Many of these formulas are still used today. Tangtong Gyalpo is credited with the invention of Tibetan opera (theatre) known as Achi Lhamo. It is thought by some that he developed opera as a way of funding his various bridge building projects. Others dismiss the idea entirely and find no relationship between Tangtong Gyalpo and Achi Lhamo.

Tangtong Gyalpo was very closely related to both the Sakya and Shangpa Kagyu Traditions. He is even aknowledged as the founder or patriarch of a specific line of Shangpa known as the Chagzam Lineage. Most of the written works of Tangtong Gyalpo, of which there are not many, are  meditational practices of various sorts that he developed based on 'Pure Vision' experiences gained at particular locations throughout Tibet. The other written materials are works related to Shangpa Kagyu meditation practices. Within the Nyingma Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism there is a vast corpus of literature alleged to be from the hand of Tangtong Gyalpo dealing with the many 'Revealed Treasure' teachings he uncovered during his lifetime and many travels throughout Tibet.

The two iconographic figures of Krishna Yamari and Yama Dharmaraja are often confused with each other, conflated, and subsequently misidentified.

There are a number of different forms of Krishna Yamari from a six faced six armed deity to a one face two armed form. All forms of Krishna Yamari are meditational deities. The confusions in identification primarily involve the simple [1] one faced form of Yamari, the [2] one faced Heruka form of Vajrabhairava and the depiction of the protector deity [3] Yama Dharmaraja in his outer form. It is these last three which are most commonly confused, conflated and misidentified.

In the graphic reference the top row of figures are the four principal forms of Krishna Yamari from most complicated on the left to simplest on the right. The bottom row highlights the confusion. The first image on the left in the bottom row of the graphic is the buffalo faced Heruka. He is the simplified meditational form of Vajrabhairava with nine faces and thirty-four hands. This form of Heruka is often mistaken for Yama Dharmaraja. On the right hand side is Yama Dharmaraja, the special protector deity exclusive to the Vajrabhairava Tantra. He appears very much like Krishna Yamari in the simple form with one face and two and holding the same attributes of a staff and lasso. Yama Dharmaraja is always accompanied by the consort Chamundi whereas the simple form of Krishna Yamari has no consort.

(The majority of images used for the graphic are detail images from a Vajrabhairava mandala belonging to the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco. It is really a fantastic example of a great work that exemplifies both high art and precise iconography).

A new Nyingma Heruka Outline Page has been added to the Nyingma Heruka Main Page.

The early Nyingma Tradition had two principal systems of deity meditation: [1] the Peaceful & Wrathful Deities of the Guhyagarbha Tantra and [2] the Eight Pronouncement Heruka. Over time and with the rise of the 'Revealed Treasure' (Terma) teachings numerous [3] meditational forms of Padmasambhava grew in popularity essentially creating an additional third category of deity meditation types.

[1] Peaceful & Wrathful Deities of the Guhyagarbha Tantra (Shitro)

[2] Eight Pronouncement Heruka (Kagye)

[3] Meditational forms of Padmasambhava (Terma)

In the Nyingma Tradition the term Heruka (blood drinker) 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 Nyingma Heruka deities. Aside from those principal eight deities other deities with a semi-peaceful - semi-wrathful appearance, arising from specific Revealed Treasure Traditions, may also be referred to as Heruka.

Eight Pronouncement Heruka:

1. Yamari (Manjushri Krodha) - body - Manjushrimitra.

2. Hayagriva - speech - Nagarjuna.

3. Shri Heruka - mind - Humkara.

4. Vajramrita - quality - Vimalamitra.

5. Vajrakila - activity - Padmasambhava.

6. Mamo Botong (Matarah) - Dhanasamskrita.

7. Jigten Choto (Lokastotrapuja) - Rambuguhya.

8. Mopa Dranag (Vajramantrabhiru) - Shantigarbha.

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9. Mahottara Heruka

The Art Depicted In Art Main Page has been updated with new galleries, images and links. A new Art Depicted In Art Outline Page has also been added to the site.

The two iconographic figures of Acharya Nagarjuna and Nagaraja Buddha both have a hood of seven snakes. Nagarjuna is also one of only three human figures to have an ushnisha, a buddha crown protuberance, on the top of the head. This makes it very difficult to differentiated between Nagarjuna and Nagaraja. In painted compositions Nagaraja typically has a white face and a blue body. Nagaraja can also perform either the teaching gesture with the two hands or his own unique gesture with the two index fingers held together at the heart and pointing upwards. Shakyamuni Buddha in a life-story episode is also protected from the weather by a snake (naga) with either a single or multiple heads. Those depictions of Shakyamuni are found in the sets of life-story paintings.

Tsang Nyon Heruka (1452-1507) was a Tibetan teacher who took the Tantric literature quite literally and behaved and dressed as a Tantric deity wearing bone ornaments, cemetery ashes, and long unshorn hair. This type of radical behaviour is described as an advanced form of practice in the Hevajra and Chakrasamvara Tantras. It is rare for Tibetan teachers to appear in this way which has given rise to the constant mis-identification of Tsang Nyon Heruka as an Indian mahasiddha rather than as a Tibetan teacher. The unique visual characteristics of Tsang Nyon are [1] the vajra scepter held in the right hand, often upraised, with a [2] skullcup or long-life vase cradled in the left hand. These are unique attributes and not shared with any of the well known mahasiddhas, or siddhas within the systems of Eighty-four Mahasiddhas.

The three worldly tsen spirits, Tsi'u Marpo, Dorje Setrab and Dragtsen all look quite similar in appearance. They are red in colour riding red horses, wearing armor, surrounded by smoke and flame. In the right hand they hold either a spear or a staff. In the left hand they hold either a heart or a lasso. They can be very difficult to recognize and require the assistance of surrounding contextual information in order to come to an accurate identification. The Bon deity, Dragtsen, the protector of the Kings of Mustang, was worshiped as a mountain god since ancient times. It is very likely that the relatively late Buddhist deity Tsi'u Marpo originated from the Bon Dragtsen.

Sarasvati and Indra: a confusion over appearance and context. Sarasvati in her most basic Buddhist form appears as a beautiful goddess playing the lute. The Abhidharmakosha commentaries describe the world of existence and the heavens in some detail which is depicted in the Wheel of Life paintings. Indra (Shakra) is described as seated in the highest heavens and playing a lute - stringed instrument. A confusion has arisen as to the identity of the figure (Indra) placed at the top center (heaven realm) in these paintings because of the similarity to the iconography of Vina Sarasvati. It is an understandable confusion because the only real difference between the two forms is the artistic convention of drawing a horizontal hairline for male figures creating a more square face and an oval form for the face of female figures. Although this convention arises quite late in Tibetan art and is certainly not universal, it is often reliable when used in conjunction with other iconographic and contextual indicators.

Brahmanarupa Mahakala is none other than Chaturmukha Mahakala the special protector of the Guhyasamaja Tantra. In his wrathful appearance he is black in colour with four faces and four hands, surrounded by four dakinis. In the Sakya School it is inappropriate to show the wrathful four-faced form to anyone who has not received the initiation. For this reason the iconographic tradition arose for painting Chaturmukha Mahakala in the form of the Brahman servant.

It is easy to understand why Brahmanarupa has been mistaken for an Indian mahasiddha appearing as he does in a siddha-like depiction. The unique features that he has that are not found with other mahasiddhas are the circle of flame surrounding the body - this is a key feature, followed by the [1] human shinbone horn, [2] sword, [3] golden vase, [4] skull prayer-beads and [5] a skullcup. This combination of attributes is only found with Brahmanarupa.

It is easy to confuse the Buddhist Eleven-faced Avalokiteshvara with the two Bon deities Kunzang Gyalwa Gyatso and Kunzang Gyalwa Dupa

The Eleven-faced Avalokiteshvara, Ekadashamukha, a very early Indian Buddhist deity, has several different forms but the two most recognizable are the standing and the sitting figures. In the Bon Religion there are also two forms that are very similar to the Ekadashamukha: Kunzang Gyalwa Gyatso (standing) and Kunzang Gyalwa Dupa (sitting). The number of faces and arms is not exactly equal between the Buddhist and Bon forms but the general appearance is more than enough to cause confusion. Both of the Bon deities hold a svastika scepter making it especially easy to recognize sculptural figures. For paintings, the svastika, over-all context and numerous retinue figures in the composition should help to determine either a Buddhist or Bon iconographic program.

The three Tibetan protector deities, Dorje Shugden, Dorje Legpa and Dorje Ta'og, are commonly depicted wearing large riding hats and flowing garments of various colours. They also ride atop a snow lion (or other mounts such as a horse). They each have a wrathful appearance, maroon in colour, with one face and two hands, holding either a vajra scepter (Legpa & Ta'og) or a curved knife (Shugden). The main confusion in identification arises from the (1) large riding hat, (2) snow lion mount and (3) the maroon body colour.

The Sage of Long-life is a figure borrowed from Chinese mythology. He is generally depicted as elderly, often holding a string of prayer beads. The composition of such a painting should contain six elements: 1. rock of long life, 2. water of long life, 3. tree of long life, 4. man with long life, 5. birds of long life and 6. antelope of long life. The Sage of Long-life paintings represent health, well-being and a safe clean environment. The arhats are always depicted as a group of sixteen with Shakyamuni Buddha and the two close disciples as the central image of the composition. The depictions of both the Sage of Long-life and the Arhats are based on the Chinese model of Taoist Immortals and therefore have a similar appearance - although otherwise unrelated.

In this case there is both a confusion over appearance and a confusion over a name. Amitayus is a Buddha and generally appears identical to Amitabha except for the addition of jewels and multi-coloured silk robes. Avalokiteshvara, as he appears in the Vajradharma form, is almost identical with Amitayus except for the lack of a long-life vase in the lap. With regard to the Chakrasamvara Tantras then there are two forms of the primordial Buddha Vajradharma - Vira Vajradharma and Dharmakaya Vajradharma. The Vira form holds a damaru double-sided drum and a skullcup. The Dharmakaya form holds a vajra and bell with the the two hands crossed at the heart. This form is identical in appearance to the primordial Buddha Vajradhara except for having a red body colour. Neither of these two forms of Vajradharma are related to the Avalokiteshvara Vajradharma.

It is very easy to confuse the deities Vajrapani, Vajravidarana, Sengge Dradog, Mahakala and Yama Dharmaraja. They are all wrathful in appearance, blue in colour, one face and two hands, holding either a vajra or curved knife in the upraised right hand. Great care must be taken to see the defining characteristics of each iconographic form as well as observing the over all context of a painting. Sculptural representations are more difficult to identify without the help of an inscription or the benefit of comparison with other sculptural figures from the same set. Many of the figures from the various sets of the Ten Great Wrathful Ones can also have the general appearance of Vajrapani. When an identification is still in doubt and the obvious forms have been ruled out then the Ten Wrathful Ones should be carefully looked at.

Many iconographic forms are very similar in appearance to each other. Because of this similarity there is often confusion over identifications of both deity and human figures. The list below is a general survey of the most commonly confused figurative subjects in Himalayan and Tibetan art. Links and pages for all of the entries below will be added over the next few weeks.

Confused Visual Subjects:

- Amitayus, Avalokiteshvara

- Avalokiteshvara with 11 Faces, Kunzang Gyalwa Gyatso, Kunzang Gyalwa Dupa

- Brahmarupa Mahakala, Mahasiddhas

- Chakrasamvara, Shri Hevajra, Mahamaya, Buddhakapala, etc.

- Dorje Shugden, Dorje, Legpa, Dorje Ta'og

- Karmapa black hat, Jamchen Choje Shakya Yeshe black hat

- Krishna Yamari, Yama Dharmaraja (outer)

- Magyu Sangchog Tartug, Shri Hevajra & Chakrasamvara

- Mahakala subjects: Gonpo Maning, Gonpo, Legden, Gonpo Chesum

- Nagarjuna, Shakyamuni Buddha, Nagaraja Buddha, Arhat Rahula, Sakya Pandita

- Padmasambhava, Yungdrung Tongdrol, (misc. Nyingma teachers)

- Sage of Long Life, Arhats

- Sakya Pandita, Buton, Tsongkapa, Ngorchen, Bodongpa, Gongkar Dorjeden

- Sarasvati, Indra (Wheel of Life paintings)

- Shamar hat, Gyaltsab hat, Situ hat, (hats of misc. Nyingma teachers)

- Tsangnyon Heruka, Mahasiddhas

- Tsiu Marpo, Dorje Setrab, Dragpa Sengge

- Vajrabhairava, Mahottara, Vishvarupa

- Vajrapani, Vajravidarana, Sengge Dradog, Kartaridhara, Yama Dharmaraja (inner)

- Vajrasattva (Heruka), Vajradhara, Vajradharma, Vajrapani

Hell Beings & Torture Depictions: a set of painted cards on rough paper with various hell scenes. Two of the images were previously uploaded to the HAR website. The set must have been created for some ritual use as each card is also numbered on the back, however it is difficult to say how many cards there were in total. Hell depictions were especially popular in Mongolia where most of the best sets of hell depictions are found. (See the Hell Main Page and Hell Outline Page).

These images are from a set of modern cards printed on paper depicting groups of three deities, or groups of three individuals - founding teachers of Tibetan Buddhism. Many of the most common and essential visual topics of Tibetan iconography are represented in these images. The full set, arranged in groups of three, also re-enforces the importance of knowing the Iconographic Number Sets in Himalayan and Tibetan art. (See Number Sets Main Page and Number Sets Outline Page).

Just as in learning arithmetic and advanced mathematics without knowing the definitions of numbers and sets and without knowing the multiplication tables and division tables - there is no proficiency. So it is with iconography in Himalayan and Tibetan art. Without knowing the iconographic number sets - there is no proficiency.