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In art Buddha Appearance refers to figures that have the form of a buddha as defined by the early Buddhist literature describing the characteristics of a buddha such as the Thirty-two Major and Eighty Minor Marks of a Buddha. Typically buddha figures are facing forward, with a dot between the eyebrows, an ushnisha on the top of the head marked with a gold ornament, three lines under the neck, elongated earlobes, wearing the patchwork robes of a fully ordained monk and seated in the vajra posture with the right leg over the left. Buddhas can have different colours. Shakyamuni is generally depicted as golden in colour, Amitabha red, Medicine Buddha appears blue, etc.

In Vajrayana Buddhism there are many Buddhas that do not have 'Buddha Appearance' but rather 'Peaceful Deity Appearance.' There are also a number of historical figures such as Nagarjuna, Garab Dorje and Sakya Pandita that can also have buddha-like characteristics. (See the Buddha Appearance Main Page).

The Four Types of Lineage Depiction in Painted Compositions depicted as an Outline Page with selected examples.

There are three main composition types and subjects in Himalayan and Tibetan art. The three are [1] Figurative representing human forms, deities and gods, [2] Narrative (which can include a central figure) relating biography, history or teaching stories and [3] Diagrammatic such as mandalas, charts, didactic, wheel of life and refuge field paintings.

The Three Vehicles of Buddhism presented as an Outline Page linking to all of the secondary pages. In Himalayan and Tibetan art the Three Vehicles are depicted in very clear and succinct iconographic forms and models. The Hinayana and Mahayana are generally presented uniformly the same by the various Buddhist Traditions. However, the presentation of the Vajrayana is divided between Nyingma and Sarma and depicted in two very different ways that reflect the differing histories and origins between the 'Old' and 'New' Tantras.

The Direction Guardians, or Four Guardian Kings, or the Four Heavenly Kings, reside on the innermost ring of islands (the lower slopes) around the four sided mythical Mount Sumeru, the center of the idealized Buddhist and Hindu world. Vaishravana (North), Dhritarashtra (East), Virudhaka (South), Virupaksha (West).

There are many names commonly used in English for this group of four figures, Four Direction Kings, Four Guardians of the Directions, Four Kings, Four Kings of the Directions. In Tibetan they are generally referred to as the Four Great Kings (gyal chen shi). Despite all of the different names they are still the same group of four figures commonly represented in Himalayan and Tibetan art.

Four Guardian Kings:

1.Vaishravana, North

2. Virudhaka, South

3. Dhritarashtra, East

4. Virupaksha, West

These four figures represent the first Indian gods incorporated into the Buddhist narrative. The Four Guardian Kings came before Shakyamuni Buddha just after the Buddha achieved enlightenment under the bodhi tree. The four offered, each individually, a black bowl made of sapphire or lapis lazuli to the Buddha. The Buddha accepted the offer and the four bowls miraculously became one bowl. This is the black bowl that is typically seen in the lap of Shakyamuni in painting and sculpture.

The Four Guardian Kings are typically found with the group of Shakyamuni & Sixteen Arhats in painting and sculpture. They are commonly found as mural paintings at the entrance way of a Buddhist temple. Although primarily associated with the idea of Hinayana Buddhism, the Four Kings are found in Vajrayana Buddhism as secondary figures, attendant deities and minor figures in the outer rings of mandalas. They are especially common in the mandalas of the lower Tantras of Yoga, Charya and Kriya where they are generally located at the four doors to the celestial; palace in the middle of the circular mandala.

Mandala Examples:

- Medicine Buddha Mandala

- Pancha Raksha Fifty-six Deity Mandala

- Vajrapani & the Four Guardian Kings Mandala

- Tara, Seventeen Deity Mandala

Of the Four Guardian Kings, only Vaishravana is singled out and employed as an individual meditational deity in Vajrayana Buddhism. Aside from his place and depiction in the group of four he is most commonly depicted as Vaishravana Riding a Lion. He has a number of other forms and is primarily employed as a wealth deity.

Hvashang, the Chinese patron to the Sixteen Great Arhats, although appearing under the iconographic category of 'Arhats' Hvashang is not an arhat himself. He belongs to the Tibetan and Chinese narrative of the Sixteen Great Arhats.

Hvashang (along with Dharmata), in Himalayan and Tibetan and art, is ONLY depicted in compositions along with Shakyamuni Buddha and the Sixteen Arhats. These depictions can be in a single painting containing all of the figures or created in sets of paintings up to twenty-three in number. Both Hvashang and Dharmata are narrative figures belonging to the iconographic story of Shakyamuni and the Sixteen Great Arhats. They are never employed as meditational deities. (See Hinayana Buddhism represented in Tibetan Art).

Hvashang is a human figure, often dark in complexion with the right hand holding a crystal 'mala,' a garland of beads for counting prayers. In the left hand he can hold a bowl of precious substances as an offering to the arhats, or a persimmon fruit. Adorned with opulent robes he is seated in a casual fashion. The key iconographic features are his portly size and the bead mala, which can be in either hand, along with a bald head and leisurely posture, surrounded by numerous small children sporting and playing.

Hvashang, meaning a 'Chinese monk,' is considered an historic figure who was sent by the Tang Emperor of China to invite the Buddha Shakyamuni to come and visit China and the Imperial Court. Since the Buddha had already passed away the invitation was relayed to the Sixteen Great Arhats. From approximately the 16th century onwards most paintings of the Buddha Shakyamuni and the Sixteen Arhats depicted in Himalayan Style Art have included the patron Hvashang. In mos paintings earlier than the 16th century Hvashang is conspicuously absent.

Curiously, in Himalayan and Tibetan art Hvashang is always depicted as a layman wearing jewelry and fancy silk robes. Although he is referred to in some historical accounts as a monk he is more commonly described as the patron, or the patriarch to the Sixteen Arhats, because he presented the invitation and was the representative of the Emperor of China. However neither of the two early Tibetan liturgies of the ritual practice of Shakyamuni Buddha and the Sixteen Arhats, made popular by both the Lord Atisha and the Kashmiri Pandit Shakyashribhadra, include the patron Hvashang.

In Chinese Buddhism depictions of a figure similar to Hvashang are believed to be the Buddha Maitreya and are commonly found as an individual painting, mural or sculpture throughout China.

Dharmata (Dharmatala) the upasaka of Central Asian or Chinese origin - the layman attendant to the Sixteen Great Arhats. Dharmata, although always appearing in relation to the Arhats, is not an arhat himself. He belongs to the Tibetan and Chinese narrative of the Sixteen Great Arhats.

Dharmata, considered by some to be an emanation of Avalokiteshvara, belongs to a thematic set of paintings known as 'Shakyamuni Buddha and the Sixteen Great Arhats.' The full group comprises twenty-five figures: the buddha Shakyamuni, together with the two foremost disciples - Shariputra and Maudgalyayana, the Sixteen Great Arhats, the attendant Dharmata, the patron Hvashang and the Four Guardians of the Directions; Vaishravana, Virupaksha, Dritarashtra and Virudhaka.

Dharmata (along with Hvashang) is ONLY depicted in compositions with Shakyamuni Buddha and the Sixteen Arhats. These depictions can be in a single painting containing all of the figures or created in sets of paintings up to twenty-three in number. Both Hvashang and Dharmata are narrative figures belonging to the iconographic story of Shakyamuni and the Sixteen Great Arhats. They are never employed as meditational deities. (See Hinayana Buddhism represented in Tibetan Art).

The paintings represented on this page depict in a single composition the Buddha Shakyamuni together with the two principal students, Shariputra and Maudgalyayana, the Sixteen Arhats, the attendant figures of Dharmatala and the patron Hvashang, along with the four Great Guardian Kings.

The group of figures commonly known as Shakyamuni and the Sixteen Arhats represent the Hinayana Tradition of Buddhism within the visual culture of Himalayan and Tibetan Buddhism.

In total there are twenty-five figures represented in a single painted composition (see a schematic of all figures). If the figures are divided between several compositions then there can be sets of paintings numbering three, five, seven, nine, or up to twenty-three paintings in total (the two principal students are always depicted standing or sitting alongside the Buddha). Painting sets of Shakyamuni and the Arhats along with the individual paintings from broken sets comprise a very large portion of all of Himalayan and Tibetan painting throughout the world.

Painting Sets:

- Painting Sets: Outline 1

- Painting Sets: Outline 2

Twenty-five Figures:

1. Shakyamuni Buddha

2. Shariputra

3. Maudgalyayana

4-19. Sixteen Great Arhats

20. Dharmata

21. Hvashang

22-25. Four Guardian Kings

According to Vajrayana Buddhism Tara is a completely enlightened Buddha that typically appears in the form of a beautiful and youthful woman sixteen years of age. By category and hierarchy Tara is a Meditational Deity (yidam) and her appearance is that of a peaceful deity which is synonymous with Devi and Bodhisattva Appearance - one of the Eleven Figurative Forms in Tibetan art.

Tara made a promise in the distant past that after reaching complete enlightenment she would always appear in the form of a female for the benefit of all beings. She especially protects from the eight and sixteen fears and has taken on many of the early functions originally associated with the deities Avalokiteshvara and Amoghapasha. Practiced in all Schools of Tibetan Buddhism Tara, amongst all of the different deity forms, is likely second in popularity only to Avalokiteshvara. Meditational practices and visual descriptions for Tara are found in all classes of Buddhist Tantra, both Nyingma and Sarma (Sakya, Kagyu, Geliug).

The most common forms of Tara are the green which is considered special for all types of activities, white for longevity and red for power. The different forms of Tara come in all colours, numbers of faces, arms and legs, peaceful, semi-peaceful and wrathful. There are simple meditational forms representing a single figure and then there are complex forms with large numbers of retinue figures filling all types of mandala configurations. There are likely to be close to two hundred different meditational forms of Tara.

Five Principal Forms, Types & Categories of Tara:

1. Green Tara

2. White Tara

3. Twenty-one Taras

4. Eight Fears, Tara

5. Miscellaneous Taras

Samaya Tara Yogini (Tibetan: dam tsig drol ma nal jor ma): from the mandala of twenty-five deities from the Sanskrit root text Samajaparamartha-sarvakaramodaya-nama-tarayoginitantraraja and the samajaparamarthasarvakarmodaya-uttaratantraraja [Toh 448, 449].

Dark green in colour, semi-peaceful and semi-wrathful, she has one face, three eyes and eight hands. The four right hands hold an arrow tipped with a utpala flower, a double-sided damaru (hand drum) and curved knife. The lowest hand with the palm facing outward performs the mudra of generosity. The left hands hold a blue lotus blossom with the stem held to the heart, a bow constructed of utpala flowers, a trident and blood filled skullcup supported on the thigh. An ornate katvanga staff rests against the left shoulder. Adorned with a tiara of five skulls, gold earrings, bracelets and anklets of bone, she wears a necklace of fifty freshly severed heads and a lower garment of tiger skin tied about the waist with a sash. On a sun disc and lotus seat with the right leg pendant, the foot resting on a flower blossom, she sits in a relaxed manner surrounded by the brightly burning flames of the fires of pristine awareness.

Lineage: Jaya Vajradhara, Bhagavani Arya Tara, mahasiddha Tailo Prajnabhadra, mahasiddha Lilavajra, Rahulagupta, Lord Dipamkara, Bum Sengge, Tatva Shrimitra, Sanghashri, Ratnadvaja, Nayakashri, Dharmashri, Shakya Rakshita, Sujata, Buddhashri Mitra, Jnana Ratna, Jnana Vajra, Ratigupta, Shantigupta, Buddhagupta Natha, Taranatha (b.1575), etc.

Tara, a meditational deity in either her typical green or white form, is also associated with the Eight Great Fears originating with the early literature of Avalokiteshvara and Amoghapasha. The Eight Fears are: (1) water, (2) lions, (3) fire, (4) snakes, (5) elephants, (6) thieves, (7) false imprisonment and (8) ghosts are meant literally, but also have a deeper significance. Tantric Buddhism commonly presents an interpretive model having three and sometimes four levels of meaning: 1. Outer, 2. Inner, and 3. Secret.

The outer meaning of the eight fears are exactly as described above which are real fears experienced in ancient times and even now in the present day world. They all relate to the physical person and the fears presented in a physical material world. The inner meaning relates to passions, ego and negative emotional characteristics. The inner meaning relates to the mental world. The secret meaning has to do with tantric techniques and philosophies to transform these negative mental states into enlightened, or realized, states.

From Indian sources Tara is a completely enlightened buddha who had previously promised to appear, after enlightenment, in the form of a female bodhisattva, a peacful deity, goddess-like, for the benefit of all beings. In one Tibetan tradition, based on the apocryphal text called the Mani Kabum, Tara is described as emanating as a tear from an eye of Avalokiteshvara in his form with eleven heads and one thousand hands.

Practiced in all Schools of Tantric Buddhism Tara in her various forms are found in all four classifications of tantra, both Nyingma and Sarma. Her ten syllable mantra and the short tantra text known as the Twenty-One Praises of Tara spoken by the buddha Samantabhadra are memorized and popularly recited by all Tibetans from the time of early childhood.

Tara & the Eight Fears: Types & Compositions:

- Single Composition (this page - below)

- White Tara Single Composition

- Green Tara Set 1

- Green Tara Set 2

- Green Tara Set 3

- Green Tara Set 4

- Block Print Set

- Others....

From the tantra known as the 'Twenty-One Praises of Tara' spoken by the Buddha Samantabhadra arises the system of practice with Twenty-one Tara emanations - one for each verse of praise. Each form of Tara has a specific colour and accomplishes a specific activity. Based on that, there are three well known and distinct lineages for the different sets of Twenty-one Taras: Pandita Suryagupta, Lord Atisha and from the compendium of practices called the the Sadhanasamucchaya. The three lineages do not share the same iconographic forms. In the Atisha system all the Taras appear in the same basic appearance and only differ in the colour of the body. Green is considered the primary colour of Tara based on other teaching lineages describing Tara in solitary form or with the accompanying deities Marichi and Ekajati. However green is not included in the enumeration of the Twenty-one Taras of Atisha. There are four red Taras, six white, three yellow, four orange, two maroon (red-black) and two black Taras for a total of 21.

The Twenty-one Taras according to the tradition of Atisha is one of five Twenty-one Tara Sytems current in Tibetan Buddhism. The oldest system is likely that of Suryagupta. The Atisha system depicts all of the Taras with the same single face and two arms, in a sitting posture. The variations are in the Atisha system are in colour only. Each of the individual Taras holds a vase in the outstretched right hand. The vase is the same colour as the body colour of that Tara. Some of the Taras are described as being slightly fierce meaning they may have an open mouth with slightly enlarged canine teeth and furrowed brow above the eyes.

The Atisha system of Taras is probably the most commonly found in Tibetan painting. It is interesting to note that there is no Green Tara or a White Tara of Long-life (Chintachakra). These two forms of Tara originate with separate lineages of transmission and different Indian and Tibetan teachers. Also, the Tara known for removing the eight great fears is not associated with any of the five systems of Twenty-one Taras. Tara and the Eight Great Fears is a separate and distinct system. (See the list of colours & functions for the Atisha Twenty-one Taras).

Types of Composition:

- single composition with all twenty-one #672, #1049, #50952, #65257, #74081, #88656, #94461, #58870

- single figure per composition (twenty-one painting set) Panchen Lama Set

- three figures per composition (seven painting set) #66298, #48954

- others....

It is now well into September and most schools, colleges and universities have been in session for at least a a couple of weeks.

It is time again to remind educators to submit subject requests to the HAR staff.  Or let us know if there is a particular area of study where we are not providing enough information. Is there an Outline Page or Thematic Subject Set not fully represented, an area completely missed?

Let us know your needs so that we can prioritize our work with you and the students in mind. Contact us at info@himalayanart.org. (See the About Us page and view a list of educators that not only use the website but have been kind enough to write about it).

This composition of Je Tsongkapa with the surrounding life-story is likely to be the earliest and most important painting known to exist on the subject of Tsongkapa. The painting is dated, based on style and iconography, to just after Tsongkapa's death in 1419.

The importance of the painting rests with the life-story surrounding the central figure on four sides. There were many early biographies of Tsongkapa in the 15th and 16th centuries, but over time some of them were considered unorthodox and many subsequently banned by the mid to late 17th century. Even now some of these early banned biographies have not been located despite ongoing efforts to find them in the last half of the 20th century by such orgainizations as the Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center (TBRC).

The unique characteristics of the visual narrative in this painting are fascinating because they do not appear to follow precisely the chronology or events as told in the later orthodox biographies such as that of Jamyang Shepa - popularized in the early 18th century.

Aside from the important biographical narrative, to the left and right of the head and upper body of Tsongkapa are the Yogachara and Madhyamaka lineages which were to become a standard compositional trademark for later depictions of Tsongkapa in the 15th and 16th centuries - later modified and updated by the invention of Gelug Refuge Field paintings in the 17th century - inspired by the writings of the first Panchen Lama, Lobzang Chokyi Gyaltsen (1570-1662).

Currently this painting is the earliest know visual biography with extensive inscriptions detailing the life story of Tsongkapa. It is also the earliest known painting depicting the Yogachara and Madhyamaka lineage composition which was to become standard for Tsongkapa paintings for the next two centuries.

This subject page contains detail images of the Indian Buddhist teacher Shantarakshita, founder of Samye Monastery and included as a teacher of the Gelug Lamrim lineage.

Red Avalokiteshvara, Ocean of Conquerors (Tibetan: chen re zi gyal wa gya tso. Sanskrit: Jinasagara Avalokiteshvara): a special meditational deity of the Karma Kagyu (Kamtsangpa) School (Five Deity Jinasagara), originating from the 'Revealed Treasure' tradition of the Nyingma School. In the 17th century the Mindroling Tradition of Nyingma popularized a form of Jinasagara known as the Minling De Kun. In the later part of the century Lelung Zhepa'i Dorje popularized an entire cycle of meditations and teachings focusing exclusively on the female deity from the retinue - Guhya Jnana Dakini. A beautiful painting from this Lelung tradition is known to exist in a museum in Poland.

Tsang Nyon Heruka (1452-1507), author, teacher and yogi, in mahasiddha appearance.

Tsang Nyon (gtsang smyon he ru ka), be it painting or sculpture, typically appears as a Tantric yogi holding a vajra scepter in the extended right hand, or alternately raised, and a skullcup in the left hand with a katvanga staff leaning against the left shoulder. His robe is generally white as is the custom of those following the tradition of Milarepa and Rechungpa. As ornaments he wears a skull headdress and bone earrings, necklace, long and short, bracelets, anklets, all modelling the appearance of the semi-peaceful and semi-wrathful deities like Hevajra and Chakrasamvara of the Anuttarayoga class of Buddhist Tantra. This is known as Mahasiddha Appearance. This peculiar and anti-social manner of dressing, copying a Heruka deity, is called the second level of the Application of the Vow in the Hevajra Tantra. The Chakrasamvara and Hevajra Tantras principally, along with similar instructions in other Tantras, are the textual source for all of those teachers and practitioners in India and Tibet who wear bone ornaments, animal skins and hold Tantric implements.

Tsang Nyon is famous for his appearance and his writings. After extensive retreats he insisted on wearing the Heruka attire as stipulated in the Chakrasamvara and Hevajra Tantras. He is however more well known for writing and compiling the One Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa along with numerous biographies of early Kagyu teachers. In the 15th century he set about to revive the old Marpa Kagyu traditions of extensive retreats in isolated locations following after the conduct of Milarepa.

A page of detail images of the various birds from the seven painting set depicting Dalai Lamas and previous incarnations.

A page of detail images of the various animals from the seven painting set depicting Dalai Lamas and previous incarnations.

A page of detail images of the various faces from the seven painting set depicting Dalai Lamas and previous incarnations.