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The two images depicted on this page are of the Tantric Buddhist meditational deity Black Hayagriva. They are from two different 'Revealed Treasure' traditions of the Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism. The image on the left belongs to the discoveries of Nyangral Nyima Ozer and the image on the right belongs to the discoveries of Guru Chowang. In both paintings, below the top register, there is a single figure of a Karmapa Lama identifying both paintings as having been commissioned by a follower of the Karma Kagyu Tradition. The deity Black Hayagriva is primarily found and practiced in the Nyingma and Karma Kagyu Schools of Tibetan Buddhism, although sometimes found in the Gelug School as well.

The painting on the left has had some conservation work but is otherwise unrestored. The painting on the right has had restoration work done in the way of colour fill, line re-enforcing and adding. Despite the age, damage over time and restoration, both compositions are wonderful examples of 15th and 16th century Tibetan painting. They are filled with exquisite details, patterns and shading. The faces of the secondary figures in both paintings are exceptionally expressive.

This landscape format painting of Shakyamuni and the Twelve Dzogchen Buddhas has been recently identified and added to the Twelve Dzogchen Buddhas Main Page on the HAR site. In the not so distant past it was a rare subject in art and iconography. More paintings and possibly sculpture are likely to be found as the topic becomes better understood and iconographically recognizable.

Although the painting is clearly intended to depict a Nyingma iconographic program and subject, there are also Gelug compositional conventions and forms. Aside from the Twelve Buddhas, the unique Nyingma identifiers are images such as the depiction of Samantabhadra and Samantabhadri Buddha at the top center, the special four-armed Avalokiteshvara, in a standing posture, of the Longchen Nyingtig tradition placed slightly to the top left and the appearance of the teacher Longchenpa on the far right. The three images at the bottom of the painting - Krodha Vajrapani (center), Tinle Pehar (left) and Shri Devi Magzor Gyalmo (right) - follow traditional Gelug compositional conventions in subject choice and placement.

Tara, Painting Masterworks: like the sculptural masterworks, there are many more examples in museum and private collections than the few paintings exhibited here. Two textiles are also included in the selection. More pieces will be added in the coming months as the images become available.

Tara, Sculptural Masterworks: there are many more examples of masterworks in museum and private collections than the few Tara sculptures exhibited here. More pieces will be added in the coming months as the images become available.

Tibetan Treasures: The Rezk Collection of Tibetan and Nepalese Art. October 28, 2011 through January 27, 2012. Altoona, PA. USA.

"Loretto – The Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art at Loretto is pleased to announce the opening of Tibetan Treasures: The Rezk Collection of Tibetan and Nepalese Art. The exhibition, which includes approximately 70 objects of Tibetan and Nepalese art spanning eight centuries, opens October 28 and will remain on view through January 28."

"The Museum’s Rezk Collection is one of the major collections of Tibetan and Nepalese art in the United States. This exhibition marks the first time the collection has been shown to the public in more than fifteen years. Tibetan Treasures features approximately 90 objects, all made within the context of Tibetan Buddhism, including thangkas (scroll paintings), block prints, sculpture, and ceremonial and ritual pieces. These range in date from the twelfth century to the twentieth, and give a fascinating overview of the rich iconography of Tibet’s unique form of Buddhism. Personifying abstract ideas as gods, demons, monsters, and saints, the objects in the exhibition bring Buddhist concepts to life in a resonant and marvelously imaginative way." (The above text is from the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art website).

(See the Southern Alleghenies collection of art on the HAR website).

Luminous: The Art of Asia, Seattle, Wash. USA

"Luminous: The Art of Asia, on view October 13, 2011–January 8, 2012 at SAM Downtown, will present a lush and rich experience of the art from 12 Asian nations. Do Ho Suh's thoughtful commentary illuminates these precious works and makes them relevant for today's contemporary audience." (Above text from the Seattle Art Museum website).

The exhibition includes a number of Tibetan and Nepalese pieces.

Reflections of the Buddha, September 9, 2011 to March 10, 2012. The Pulitzer Foundation of the Arts, St. Louis, MO. USA.

For the first exhibition of its tenth-anniversary season, The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts presents Reflections of the Buddha, a unique encounter with several major visual and spiritual Buddhist traditions. The exhibition’s twenty-two artworks, on loan from important American collections, were created in Afghanistan, China, India, Japan, Korea, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, and Tibet and date from the second to the eighteenth centuries. Each one is experienced in harmony with the serene atmosphere of the Pulitzer’s building, designed by master architect Tadao Ando. Three related works of contemporary art add to the resonance of the exhibition’s theme.

Admission to the Pulitzer is free.
Hours: Wednesdays noon – 5pm | Saturdays 10am – 5pm

(Image: Standing Prince Shotoku at Age Two (Shotoku Taishi Nisaizo), c. 1292. Japan, Kamakura period, 1185–1333. Japanese cypress (hinoki) wood-assembled woodblock construction with polychromy and rock-crystal inlaid eyes. 26 3/4 x 9 3/4 x 9 in. (67.9 x 24.8 x 22.9 cm). Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Promised gift of Walter C. Sedgwick in memory of Ellery Sedgwick Sr. and Ellery Sedgwick Jr., 99.1979.1. Photograph by Junius Beebe © President and Fellows of Harvard College).

{All above text is from The Pulitzer Foundation of the Arts website).

Mirror of the Buddha: Early Portraits from Tibet, October 21, 2011 - March 5, 2012. Rubin Museum of Art, New York City.

"In early Tibetan painted portraits, founding masters of important Buddhist schools were often represented as holy personages. Using artistic conventions developed in India, Tibetan artists expressed the Buddhist ideals embodied in a particular person, exalting their human subjects to the level of buddhas."

"Mirror of the Buddha will present exquisite examples of these portraits, painted primarily in the eastern India-inspired Sharri style. Though the Sharri tradition spread from India to many parts of Asia, the style's classic Indian forms, delicate colors, and intricate decorative details were emulated most faithfully by Tibetans and enjoyed particular popularity in Tibet from the 12th to 14th century."

"Marking the third in a series of exhibitions that explores important Tibetan painting styles, Mirror of the Buddha will clarify some of the confusion and correct misidentifications previously posited by Western scholars. It will also analyze inscriptions and lineages, which are often overlooked yet of critical importance, as tools for dating these works of art."

"Mirror of the Buddha will be complemented by a full-color catalog rich with new scholarship, by curator David Jackson." (Text from the Rubin Museum of Art website).

Shanglon Dorje Dudul is the special protector of the Tibetan Medical Tradition, lineage and texts. There are two main forms of Shanglon. The first is a [1] seated wrathful figure that has three different forms: Outer, Inner and Secret. The second form is associated with the [2] Yutog Nyingtig and is a wrathful Mahakala-like deity that rides atop a horse and has a retinue of eight deities.

Shanglon Mahakala is the special protector for the Yutog Nyingtig Cycle of Terma texts (Revealed Treasure). The main deity of the cycle is Hayagriva with consort. The two Yutogs, known as father and son, are regarded as the founders of Tibetan Medicine. It is speculated that the idea of two famous Yutog physicians is a creation of Desi Sanggye Gyatso in the 17th century with only the ealier  the Yutog being historically grounded. (See a mandala painting with all forms of Shanglon depicted in the composition).

Deity Forms:

- [1] Shanglon Dorje Dudul (Outer Accomplishment)

- Shanglon Dorje Dudul (Inner Accomplishment)

- Shanglon Dorje Dudul (Secret Accomplishment)

- [2] Yutog Nyingtig Shanglon (with eight retinue)

- Yutog Nyingtig Retinue Figures, Initiation Cards, Initiation Cards
- Others....

Gallery Pages have been added for the main subjects along with a Best of Collection Page. The Southern Alleghenies sculpture and ritual object collections have not yet been added to the Himalayan Art Resources website.

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.