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The images found on this gallery page are twelve illuminations from volume two [gsung 'bum 'gyur med bde chen, WA. TBRC P644] of the collected works of Lochen Gyurme Dechen ('gyur me bde chen). He is most famous for writing the biography of Tang Tong Gyalpo who is credited with founding the Chagzampa Tradition of the Shangpa Kagyu to which Gyurme Dechen was closely associated. Four of the illuminations depict Gyurme Dechen, numbers #3, 4, 9 and 11.

The illuminations below use two types of script, Lantsha and Tibetan, and two languages, Sanskrit and Tibetan. Some of the Lantsha letters are very difficult to read and appear to be slightly Vartu script in execution because of the hand-writing style. Illuminations numbered #1 through 4 and #11 use Lantsha script. Illuminations #5 through 10 use Tibetan script. (For the written scripts used in Tibetan religious texts see the website Indian Scripts in Tibet).

Inscriptions:

1. Nama shri kalachakraya (dpal dus kyi 'khor)

2. Nama Kalki vijaya sukirtiya (rigs ldan rnam rgyal grags pa bzang po)

3. Nama akshara mahasukhaya ('gyur med bde chen)

4. Nama akshara mahasukhaya ('gyur med bde chen)

5. Om Ah niguma nama (om A ni gu ma)

6. Om Ah virya bhadra nama (Om A brtson 'grus bzang po)

7. Om Ah Vajradhara nama (Om A rdo rje 'chang)

8. Punya sagara, Punya dhvaja nama (khrus khang bsod nams rgya mtsho)

9. Gyurme Dechen and Kunga Drolchog (Lo chen 'gryur med rdo rje dang kun dga' gro mchog)

10. Shadbhuja Mahakala (Phyag drug ye shes mgon po)

11. Nama akshara mahasukhaya ('gyur med bde chen)

12. [the final illumination has no inscription - Amitayus Buddha]

- Illumination #5,6,7, and 8 are written with Tibetan letters using Sanskrit names for Niguma, Virya Bhadra, Vajradhara, Punya Sagara and Punya Dhvaja.

- The second name in illumination #8, Punya dhvaja, has not yet been identified with a Tibetan figure.

- The names in illuminations #9 and #10 are written with Tibetan letters using Tibetan names.
- The final illumination, #12, has no inscription.

A number of the names on the illuminations have been identified based on the various names with which Dechen Gyurme signed his miscellaneous works, or the names of individuals mentioned in the volume two compilation text.

A gallery page of Masterworks has been added to the Yellow Jambhala Main Page. Also see the Masterworks Main Page.

Yellow Jambhala is a male, rotund figure, wearing ornaments and heavenly garments similar to a bodhisattva figure in Buddhist art. The form of Jambhala follows that of a Yaksha figure in Indian art, which is also similar to the appearance of the Four Guardian Kings in Tibetan art. According to the system of the Eleven Iconographic Appearances - Jambhala belongs to King Appearance.

Jambhala is a wealth deity. His practices, rituals and meditations are done for the purposes of acquiring wealth - either slowly or quickly. The Tantric origins of Yellow Jambhala begin with the early Tantra texts such as the Siddhaikavira Tantra and the Manjushri Mula Kalpa Tantra. In the Anuttarayoga system Jambhala is found in the Hevajra, Guhyasamaja and Chakrasamvara Tantras. The Hevajra Tantra in particular relies upon Yellow Jambhala, in his two armed form, as the wealth deity specific to practitioners of the Hevajra system.

Yellow Jambhala is commonly found as a minor, or secondary, figure in paintings, generally included in the lower portion of a composition above or next to the Dharma protector figures.

There are many more sculptural objects of Yellow Jambhala than there are paintings. The reason for this apparent imbalance between painting and sculpture is because there is a special ritual practice involving Jambhala that requires a physical representation, a sculpture - generally small in size. The actual practice involves pouring 108 offerings of water over the head of Jambhala accompanied by a short mantra with each offereing. The ritual is narrative based and originates with an event from the life of Shakyamuni Buddha.

"Yellow Jambhala with one face and two hands. The right [hand] holds a bijapuraka [fruit] and the left a mongoose with jewels showering down. [With] two feet pressing down on a conch and lotus treasure. Adorned with a blue utpala garland and jewel ornaments." (Konchog Lhundrub, 1497-1557. From the One Hundred Methods of Accomplishment).

Forms & Types:

- Yellow Jambhala (solitary)

- Yellow Jambhala (with consort)

- Yellow Jambhala (with nine deities) Mitra Tradition

- Yellow Jambhala (with consort & eight paired retinue figures) Siddhaikavira Tantra

- Yellow Jambhala (three faces, six arms, consort)

- Yellow Jambhala (three faces, six arms, consort) Guhyasamaja Tradition

Bodhisattva, heroic aspirant to enlightenment, idealized beings in the appearance of youthful and beautiful heavenly gods, richly attired in silk-like garments and jewels. Bodhisattvas can be male or female and represent the principal realized students of Shakyamuni Buddha, Amitabha Buddha and others, according to the Mahayana Sutras of Northern Buddhism. There are many bodhisattvas mentioned in the Sutras but the most famous and most commonly represented in art are the Eight Great Bodhisattvas. (See the full definition of the term Bodhisattva).

Eight Great Bodhisattva:

Akashagarbha: Womb of Space Sutra, others

Avalokiteshvara: Heart Sutra, Lotus of the Good Law Sutra, others

Kshitigarbha: Earth Store Sutra

Maitreya: mentioned in the Pali Sutras as the next buddha, Mahayana Sutras

Manjushri: Vimalakirti-nirdesha Sutra, Flower Garland Sutra, Prajnaparamita Sutras

Nivarana-vishkhambhin

Samantabhadra: Lotus of the Good Law Sutra, Flower Garland Sutra

Vajrapani: Early Sutras

In 10th-13th century India there were several praises (stotra) composed by scholars and devotees glorifying the deeds of their favourite bodhisattva from Sutra literature. Tibetan tradition follows these various praises with four bodhisattva in particular being regarded as the most important; Manjushri, Avalokiteshvara, Vajrapani and Maitreya.

Depictions of the eight bodhisattva are non-iconic and follow the artistic traditions of the time, art school, or choices of the artist. Non-iconic means they do not have fixed body colours, postures or hand attributes. Later traditions began to mix Tantric iconography with the non-iconic imagery of the Mahayana Sutra Bodhisattva. For example Manjushri would be depicted as orange in colour and holding a sword in a variety of relaxed postures. Avalokiteshvara would be white in colour and holding a white lotus flower.

The first three bodhisattva also came to hold important positions in the early Tantras of the Kriya Classification and as a group are called the Three Lords of the Families, or Three Bodhisattva Lords (Tibetan: rig sum gon po). In this role the three take on fixed iconographic appearances as described in the specific Tantra literature.

Sets Of Eight Great Bodhisattvas:

- Set 1 (Mongolian Pantheon)

- Set 2 (Roerich Museum)

- Set 3 (300 Icons)

- Group of Sets 4 (Palpung Composition re-constructed set)

- Group of Sets 5 (Kham, Tibet)

Maitreya, the bodhisattva of loving kindness and the Buddha of the next and future eon after the age of Shakyamuni Buddha. Maitreya is believed to currently reside in the Tushita Heaven and is typically depicted as having either a Bodhisattva Appearance or Buddha Appearance with all the typical characteristics.

Maitreya belongs to three iconographic groups: the Eight and Sixteen Great Bodhisattvas. He also belongs to the group known as the Buddhas of the Three Times - past, present and future (Dipamkara, Shakyamuni, Maitreya). These three Buddhas also belong to the larger group of One Thousand Buddhas of this Age.

In painting Maitreya is commonly depicted in bodhisattva appearance and is commonly found along with the other Eight Great Bodhisattvas in compositions with either Shakyamuni or Amitabha Buddha as the central figure.

"With the fire of great love burning the fuel of anger,

The light of pristine awareness removes the darkness of ignorance.

Heir to the Conqueror's Dharma, upcoming leader of beings;

To the one residing in Tushita, I bow." (Buddhist liturgical verse).

Groups & Number Sets:

- Buddhas of the Three Times

- Eight Great Bodhisattvas (& Sixteen)

- One Thousand Buddhas of the Age

Forms & Types:

- Maitreya in Bodhisattva Appearance (seated, vajra posture, standing)

- Maitreya in Buddha Appearance

- Maitreya as a Meditational Deity: Three Faces, Four Arms

The Je Tsongkapa system for depicting the Thirty-five Confession Buddhas is stated in his writings to be based on his own meditative vision and not on a textual source. This episode from the life-story is well depicted in art. The images in this gallery are all of painting number #14 from different versions of the fifteen painting set depicting the life story of Je Tsongkapa. At the middle left side of the composition is a small figure of Tsongkapa in front of a standing gold statue of Maitreya. Directly above are two artists painting a wall mural. Above that is a sphere containing the Thirty-five Confession Buddhas as described in the vision of Tsongkapa. (See a single composition of the life story with the Confession Buddhas at the top center).

(gsung 'bum tsong kha pa, sku 'bum par ma. sangs rgyas so lnga'i mngon rtogs dang lha sku'i phyag tshad bzhugs so. Vol.11 [da] page 709).

The standard set of paintings depicting the life story of Je Tsongkapa, designed in the early 18th century by Jamyang Shepa, has fifteen individual compositions. There are several iconographic systems based on explanatory texts laying out the life of Tsongkapa chronologically accompanied by number references. Short inscriptions and the sequential number are often found on the front surface of each painting  either below or beside the narrative vignette being referenced.

There are two main compositional formats for the sets of paintings. The first format [1] is symmetrical with Tsongkapa always depicted at the center of each composition. The second format [2] is asymmetrical with Tsongkapa appearing to the right or left side of the composition. The majority of compositions follow the symmetrical format. This format is clearly based on the Jamyang Shepa textual explanation and possibly other earlier instructions. In the 18th century a set of wood blocks were carved making it possible to create large numbers of block print images on paper, cloth and silk.

Tsongkapa Life Story Painting Sets (complete, or nearly complete):

- Blockprint Set (Tibetan Painted Scrolls)

- Blockprint Set on Silk (Tibet House, India)

- Field Museum Set (USA)

- Tibetan Painted Scrolls

- Zanabazar Museum (Mongolia)

For a much earlier life story painting (15th century) in a single composition see HAR #410.

The images on this page follow the iconographic description for depicting the Thirty-five Confession Buddhas based on the commentary of Nagarjuna.

The unique characteristics of the Nagarjuna system are the many and varied hand attributes held by at least thirty of the Thirty-five Buddhas. (Also see a block print set from Mongolia that follows the Nagarjuna system).

It has been suggested by Sakya Pandita and again later by Jonang Taranata that any system describing hand attributes to the Thirty-five Buddhas and alledging to be from an authentic original and early Indian source text is spurious.

The images on this page follow the iconographic description for depicting the Thirty-five Confession Buddhas based on the commentary of Je Tsongkapa.

There are five unique characteristics in the Tsongkapa system. The five are the four Buddhas that hold the hand attributes of a [1] Victory Banner, [2] shirt of armor, [3] sword and [4] Mount Meru in the lap. Further, [5] Nageshvara Raja Buddha is depicted with a blue body and a white neck and head. He has a hood of seven snakes and the hands perform a gesture at the heart. This form of Nageshvara Raja follows the descriptions from the texts of Jowo Atisha describing the meditational deity Nageshvara Raja.

(Also see a block print set from Mongolia that follows the Tsongkapa system).

Lama Tsongkapa, Lobzang Dragpa, also known as Je Rinpoche (1357-1419): founder of the Gelug School of Tibetan Buddhism. Tsongkapa established the Ganden Monastery in central Tibet in 1409 which became the principal seat of the Gelug School. Beginning with Tsongkapa, each of the successive Throne Holders of Ganden Monastery are considered the heads of the Gelug Tradition. In these early compositions Tsongkapa is portrayed as the principal figure along with the two most important disciples standing at the right and left, accompanied by the two most important groups of lineage teachers from India known as the Yogachara and Madhyamaka philosophical lineage traditions.

The subject of the composition of these paintings is not unique although somewhat rare. At least seven other paintings are known from the 15th and 16th century time period that depict this same subject of Tsongkapa accompanied by the Yogachara and Madhyamaka lineages. The Yogachara and Madhyamaka philosophical traditions are the highest and most advanced teachings of Mahayana Buddhism, recognized by all Tibetan Buddhist schools, and paintings such as these re-enforce the importance the Gelug Tradition placed on such teachings as opposed to the Tantric teachings emphasized by the Nyingma, Sakya, Kagyu and Jonang traditions of Tibetan Buddhism.

The general style of composition in these and other similar paintings was discontinued after the late 17th century with the development of the compositional style known as the Gelug 'Field of Accumulation' created by the 1st Panchen Lama, Lobzang Chokyi Gyaltsen (1570-1662). The new Field of Accumulation composition (sometimes known as a Refuge Field) included both important Yogachara and Madhyamaka lineages along with the principal lineage of the Gelug school known as the Stages of the Path. A further elaboration in the new composition was the addition of three groups of religious figures and objects representing the all important Buddha, Dharma (represented by books depicted in a Tibetan style) and Sangha (represented by the Sixteen Arhats and the Eight Great Bodhisattvas). Further additions to the composition format were the most important Tantric deities of the Gelug school along with the three principal protector deities: Shadbhuja Mahakala, Yama Dharmaraja and Vaishravana Riding a Lion.

The earliest Confession Buddha Painting on the HAR website, from the Guge Kingdom of West Tibet (14th - 15th century), depicts Shakyamuni Buddha as the central figure accompanied by the two principal students Shariputra and Maudgalyayana. The Thirty-five Buddhas (less Shakyamuni) are arranged in the registers at the top, two vertical sides and along the bottom of the composition.

The Sutra of the Three Heaps, in Sanskrit the Triskhandhadharma-sutra, or briefly the Triskandha Sutra (phung po gsum pa'i mdo), is a Mahayana ritual text used primarily by monks and nuns for the purpose of confession of downfalls which means transgressions against the vinaya and bodhisattva vows. The central object of worship is the Thirty-five Confession Buddhas, including Shakyamuni Buddha. The name of the sutra follows from the three principal sections of the text: 1) homage, 2) confession, and 3) and dedication. There are other texts on confession found in the various Mahayana Sutras however none of those appear to have any representations in Himalayan and Tibetan art.

Only two of the thirty-five Buddhas are depicted or worshiped separately from the larger group. They are Shakyamuni Buddha and Nageshvara Raja Buddha. However, it is doubtful that there is any relationship between the Nageshvara Raja Buddha of the Confession Sutra and the meditational deity Nageshvara Raja popularized by Jowo Atisha. It is most probable that these two Buddhas became conflated over time because of the similarity in name. Regardless of that, it is generally believed that these two Buddhas are the same single entity.

There are at least three different iconographic systems for depicting the individual Thirty-five Confession Buddhas. The principal authors of commentaries and ritual texts were Arya Nagarjuna, Sakya Pandita and Je Tsongkapa.

In Sakya Pandita's text Pungpo'i Sumpa'i Do Dontab Shug (phung po gsum pa'i mdo 'don thabs bzhugs [volume NA, pages 450-452]), he describes the thirty-five Buddhas as divided into five groups of seven Buddhas each. The five groups of seven follow the appearance of the Five Symbolic or Tantric Buddhas: Vairochana, Amitabha, Akshobhya, Ratnasambhava and Amoghasiddhi. This means that the first group of seven are white and each with the same gesture of Dharma Teaching. The second group of seven are red and with the gesture of meditation, and so on for the remaining three Tantric Buddhas and the remaining three groups of seven. (See a painting that follows the Sakya Pandita description).

Jonang Taranata discusses the various systems for depicting the thirty-five Buddhas and states that he has a doubt that some of the systems of depicting the Buddhas with various hand objects (attributes such as a sword, vajra, tree branch, Mount Meru) that these originate in India or from Indian source texts.

Paintings depicting the Buddhas without hand attributes.



Paintings depicting the Buddhas with hand attributes.

Buddha Nageshvara Raja, also known as Nagaraja (Tibetan: sang gye lu'i wang chug gyal po [bcom ldan 'das klu'i dbang phug rgyal po]. English: the Enlightened One, King of Nagas). This unusual buddha form has the unique blue body colouring and a face white in colour. He holds the two hands at the heart in a special gesture and the head is adorned with a hood of seven snakes. It is very easy to confuse Nageshvara Buddha, Arya Nagrjuna and some forms of Shakyamuni Buddha. (See a comparison of these three figures).

Nageshvara Raja is a meditational deity in the Vajrayana system of Buddhism. In paintings he can be depicted either alone or with four accompanying bodhisattva figures: Nivarana-vishkambhin white in colour, Maitreya red, Manjushri yellow and Avalokiteshvara white. A Buddha with the same name, Nageshvara Raja, is also included as one of the Thirty-five Confession Buddhas.

However, it is doubtful that there is any relationship between the Nageshvara Raja Buddha of the Confession Sutra and the meditational deity Nageshvara Raja popularized by Jowo Atisha. It is most probable that these two Buddhas became conflated over time primarily because of the similarity in name. It is also possible that this conflation is a convention established by Je Tsongkapa. The vast majority of Gelug Tradition paintings that depict the Thirty-five Confession Buddhas portray Nageshvara Raja Buddha in the same appearance as the meditational deity. Whereas most if not all Sakya, Kagyu and Nyingma Tradition paintings do not depict Nageshvara in the unique appearance of the meditational deity from the lineage of Jowo Atisha.

Lineage: Buddha Nageshvara Raja, Arya Nagarjuna, Chandrakirti, Dipamkara Atisha (982-1054), etc.

Forms of Nagaraja Buddha:

- Nageshvara Raja (The Sutra of the Three Heaps) form #1

- Nageshvara Raja (The Sutra of the Three Heaps) form #2

- Nageshvara Raja (The Sutra of the Three Heaps) form #3

- Nageshvara Raja Accompanied by Four Bodhisattva

In the Vajrayana Buddhist system of Tibet and the Himalayan regions there are two principal divisions, the Nyingma (old or ancient ones) and the Sarma (new ones). For the Nyingma Tradition Vajrayana is principally represented by the primordial Buddha Samantabhadra (kuntu zangpo) followed by Padmasambhava accompanied by the Twenty-five Principal Disciples.

For the Sarma Traditions, made up of the Kadam, Sakya, Dagpo Kagyu, Shangpa Kagyu, Jonang, Gelug and others, Vajrayana Buddhism is represented by the primordial Buddha Vajradhara accompanied by the Eighty-four Great Accomplished Ones (mahasiddha). There are at least five known systems of enumerating the names of the mahasiddhas. Only two of these five are commonly represented in paintings or murals - the Abhayadatta and Vajrasana systems.

Beginning in the 18th century the new convention of painting Field of Accumulation compositions began. This started first with the Gelug Tradition followed by some Nyingma and Kagyu lineages in the 19th century and the remaining Tibetan traditions in the 20th century. This form of art represents an entire Tibetan tradition in a single composition with an emphasis on the Vajrayana while still inclusive of the Hinayana and Mahayana.

Principal Figures:



Nyingma

- Samantabhadra Buddha

- Padmasambhava

- Twenty-five Principal Disciples



Sarma

- Vajradhara Buddha

- Eighty-four Great Accomplished Ones (mahasiddha)

In Himalayan and Tibetan painting and sculpture the Mahayana path is generally represented by either Shakyamuni Buddha or Amitabha Buddha as the central figure surrounded by the Eight Great Bodhisattvas - the realized students of Mahayana Buddhism. Representing the historical students are the Six Ornaments & Two Excellent Ones of the Southern Continent. This last group also represent the principal scholars of the Madyamaka and Yogachara philosophical traditions.

In addition to the two Buddhas mentioned above the future Buddha Maitreya and Bhaishajyaraja Guru (Medicine Buddha) are also representative of Mahayana Buddhism. The Eight Bodhisattvas can also be expanded to include an additional eight making it the group of Sixteen Great Bodhisattvas. Although the sixteen are not so commonly represented in art. In recent times the Six Ornaments and Two Excellent Ones of the Southern Continent have been expanded with nine additional Indian Mahayana scholars making a group of seventeen - known as the Seventeen Great Scholars of Nalanda Monastery.

Principal Mahayana Figures:

- Shakyamuni Buddha

- Amitabha Buddha

- Maitreya Buddha

- Bhaishajyaraja Guru (Medicine Buddha)

- Eight Great Bodhisatvas

- Six Ornaments & Two Excellent Ones of the Southern Continent

Himalayan and Tibetan Buddhism is generally described as being composed of the three 'Yana' or vehicles, or paths, of Buddhism - the Hinayana, Mahayana and Vajrayana. In painting and sculpture the Hinayana path, the foundation of the other paths, is represented by Shakyamuni Buddha as the central figure surrounded by various students and followers most notably the Sixteen Great Arhats.

The full group, unique to Himalayan and Tibetan style art, has twenty-five figures: the Buddha Shakyamuni, together with the two foremost disciples - Shariputra and Maudgalyayana, the Sixteen Great Arhats, the attendant Dharmatala, the patron Hvashang and the Four Guardian Kings of the Directions: Vaishravana, Virupaksha, Dhritarashtra and Virudhaka. In all an extensive set of paintings would comprise twenty-three individual compositions. The two foremost disciples are generally portrayed in the same painted composition with Buddha Shakyamuni. In sculpture sets the total number of pieces is twenty-five. Early paintings of the group prior to the 14th century generally do not include Hvashang - who was added to the group later.

Twenty-five Figures:

- Shakyamuni Buddha

- Shariputra & Maudgalyayana

- Sixteen Great Arhats

- Dharmatala (attendant)

- Hvashang (patron)

- Four Guardian Kings of the Directions

In the Tibetan tradition of training young artists there are three basic figurative forms that must be learned. The student is first taught how to draw the form of the [1] Buddha. Here the Buddha represents the basic human form. The second figurative form is that of [2] Green Tara, peaceful with jewelry and ornaments, a slight curve to the body and head, with the right leg extended. The third figurative form is [3] Wrathful Vajrapani with a fierce countenance, thick limbed, adorned with wrathful ornaments, or a combination of peaceful and wrathful, and in a standing posture surrounded by flames. Working with colour is only taught after the basic skills of drawing have been mastered.

From the basic forms of these three figures of Buddha, Tara and Vajrapani all of the various figurative depictions in Tibetan iconography can be created simply with the addition of extra heads, arms and legs, ornaments and attributes.

An Outline Page listing the most important topics and characters for the subject of Ling Gesar has been added. The Outline still requires additional work and more images will added to the Gesar Main Page.

Vajrabhairava is a complex meditational deity found in all of the new (Sarma) Traditions of Tibetan Buddhism. There are two different iconographic traditions for depicting the nine faces. Knowing how the faces are depicted is important in identifying the lineage or Buddhist tradition of a painting or sculpture.

There are two different systems for depicting the nine faces of Vajrabhairava. The first system is called [1] Stacked Faces (zhal tseg) and the second is called [2] Circular Faces (zhal kor). The first, Stacked Faces is considered the older system and can be found depicted primarily in the paintings and sculpture of the Sakya, Marpa Kagyu, Jonang and Shangpa Kagyu Traditions. The second system of Circular Faces is depicted in the Gelug Tradition.

There are occasions where Circular Faced depictions of Vajrabhairava can be found in the Bodong and Ngor Traditions of Sakya. However these instances are rare and isolated to the minor registers or secondary figurative depictions in a larger painting with a central figure of Vajrabhairava or another Anuttarayoga meditational deity. These compositions typically contain dozens of secondary deity figures.

Vajrabhairava with nine Stacked Faces is defined by the central face of the deity having a buffalo head with a single wrathful face placed to the right and left sides. Stacked above that are three more wrathful faces. Again above that are three faces. The top level has two wrathful faces at the sides and the middle top face is that of Manjushri, orange in colour, slightly peaceful and slightly wrathful. This orientation, or configuration, of three levels of three faces is called Stacked Faces.

Vajrabhairava with nine Circular Faces is defined by the central face being that of a buffalo with three additional faces placed to the immediate right side and three more faces placed to the immediate left side. Above the central buffalo face are two more faces one above the other. The orange face of Manjushri is identified as the uppermost face. This orientation is called Circular Faces.

In the 15th and 16th centuries there were a number of dialectic exchanges between teachers of the Sakya and Gelug traditions claiming the orthodoxy of one system over the other. Early examples of paintings and sculpture from both India and Nepal use the Stacked Face system. Early Tibetan paintings can be identified that also depict both forms of Vajrabhairava with examples of minor figures that also depict the deity with the circular faces. Both appear to be old Tibetan iconographic forms with one more dominant than the other.

It was Tsongkapa in the 14th century that popularized the deity Vajrabhairava with Circular Faces as one of the three principal (Anuttarayoga) meditational practices in the Gelug Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. As a general rule in the study of Buddhist Tantric iconography - any depiction of Vajrabhairava with the faces in a circular orientation means that it most likely belongs to a Gelug iconographic program. Depiction of Vajrabhairava with a stacked face orientation belong to a Sakya, Marpa Kagyu or Jonang iconographic program.