Himalayan Art Resources

Artwork: Abhijnaraja Buddha - from the set of the nine paintings depicting the fifty-one deity Medicine Buddha mandala. Item number: 60905 Gyantse style, 15th century. Collection : Bodleian Libraries , University of Oxford

More about Gyantse Style..

The town and area of Gyantse is most well known for the Palkor C***e Monastery and the large highly decorated stupa alongside. On the hilltop above is the Dzong (fortress) with many beautiful murals and paintings of mandalas.

Individual paintings in a Gyantse style are relatively rare. Gyantse is most famous for the rich and highly colourful murals which fill the main temple and the many stupa chambers. The fortress on top of the adjacent hill is likely the earliest structure with many mural paintings in a pronounced Nepalese (Newar) painting style. The mural paintings of Palkor C***e and stupa are more relaxed, colourful and expressive. The middle and late period Gyantse style scroll paintings follow after the Palkor C***e and stupa murals. There are a number of early period Gyantse style paintings with several being dated within a few years of commission. Those paintings, dating from the mid 14th to the early 15th century, are very important in the study of the identity and legacy of the artist Chi'u Gangpa and the Chi'u Gang painting style. The earliest known reference to Chi'u style is mentioned in a biography of the 10th Karmapa Choying Dorje.

The 20th century Tibetan scholar Shakabpa suggests that Gyantse art is based on the art style of an artist named Chi'u. He further suggests that Chi'u lived in the 13th century but later contradicts himself by saying that the artist also painted a mural in the 15th century Palkor C***e Monastery.

Mentions of Chi'u in Early Literature:
- Earlier mentions in literature (currently unknown)
- Gongkar Dorje Denpa (1432-1496): Lhazo Chi'u Genyen
- Karmapa Choying Dorje (1655): painted in the style of Chi'u as gifts for the 6th Tai Situpa
- Nenang Pawo Trinle Gyatso (17th century): mention is made in Choying Dorje catalogue of artistic creations
- Fifth Dalai Lama (17th century): Chi'u rimo
- Desi Sanggye Gyatso (17th century): Trulku Chi'u
- De'u Mar Geshe (17/18th century): brief history of Chi'u and Chi'u painting style description
- Longdol Lama (18th century): mentions that Chi'u was born in Yarlung
- Situ Panchen (18th century): Chi'u Gangpa
- Jamgon Kongtrul (19th century): brief history of Chi'u and Chi'u painting style description
- Shakabpa (20th century): brief history of Chi'u, painting style description and born in Lato

These are the current and commonly known references to Chi'u in literature. It is very likely that there are many more to be found.

Jeff Watt 5-2014 [updated 8-2017, 10-2018]

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**Chakrasamvara Art History - Update**

This is a public video on our Patreon platform where HAR posts in-depth content on various topics related to Himalayan art, including iconography, art history, and religious context. Please support us on Patreon to keep HAR running, as we rely on your donations to continue our daily operations. We also take video requests on Patreon to answer specific questions you may have. Some videos are considerably longer and more in-depth than those on YouTube.

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Artwork: Vajravarahi, 19th century, Bhutan, HAR item number : 65858. Collection : Rubin Museum of Art (New York)

More about Vajravarahi:
Vajravarahi (Tibetan: dor je pag mo): Vajravarahi is one of the most popular and commonly depicted meditational deities of Ta***ic Buddhism. She is also found in the same Sanskrit literature (Abhidhana Uttaratantra) that describes the deity Chakrasamvara. Vajravarahi is a form of the deity Vajrayogini. The only difference in appearance is that Vajravarahi has a boar's head attached to her own, either placed on the top of the head or on the right side of the head. (See a comparison of body proportions between this image of Vajravarahi and two other paintings and also a comparison with a sculpture HAR #19668).

Lineage: Vajradhara, Tilopa, Naropa, Marpa (1012-1097), Milarepa (1040-1123), Dwagpo Sonam Rinchen, Pagmodrupa, etc.

Jeff Watt 11-2009

For more examples of Vajravarahi masterworks, check out : https://www.himalayanart.org/search/set.cfm?setID=2377

Artwork: Krodharaja Achala, 14/15th century, Densatil Monastery Style, Tibet. HAR item number : 1751. Collection : Private

More about Achala
“Krodharaja Achala (English: the Immovable One, King of the Wrathful). Achala, also known as Krodha Chanda and Chanda Maharoshana, is a meditational deity in wrathful appearance. He is not a protector. There are however forms of Achala that are included in the Anuttarayoga groupings of the Ten Wrathful Ones. Explanations and descriptions for these deities including Achala are found in the Ta**ras such as Guhyasamaja, Hevajra, Chakrasamvara, Vajrabhairava, etc. In the context of these Ta**ras, and the Twelve Wrathful Ones, Achala is a protector deity as part of a group of protectors within a larger system, or cycle, of practice.”
Jeff Watt

For more information on Krodharaja Achala and his masterworks, visit : https://www.himalayanart.org/search/set.cfm?setid=3900

Artwork: Magzor Gyalmo, 18th century, Tashi Lhunpo Style, HAR item number : 34851. Collection : The Palace Museum (Beijing)

More about the iconography:
"... Shri Devi Remati, Queen of the Army Repelling Weapons, riding a mule, blue-black in colour, with one face and two hands, having bared fangs and gnashing down on a human co**se. Possessing three round red eyes, and the forehead furrowed into a frown, brown hair flowing upwards with licks of flame and smoke issuing forth. The right ear is adorned with a poisonous snake and the left with a lion, crowned with five dry human skulls and a necklace of fifty blood dripping wet [heads] strung with intestines. ... having a lower garment of tiger skin, a snake belt and necklace, etc. The right hand holds to the sky a sandalwood stick marked with a vajra. The left holds to the heart a mustard seed and blood filled skullcup. ... At the level of the navel is a sun and at the crown of the head a crescent moon; above the head is a peacock parasol canopy." (Sharchen Champa Kunga Tashi 1558-1603, TBRC P778. Drub Tab Kun Tu vol.9, pp.606-607. TBRC W19221).

The textual source for Magzor Gyalmo is the Dakinyagnijihajvala Ta**ra, Dege Kanjur, volume 98, pp.223-253. It is found in the Nyingma Ta**ra section, vol.3. TBRC w22084.

Jeff Watt

For more information on Magzor Gyalmo and her masterworks, visit : https://www.himalayanart.org/search/set.cfm?setID=2110

Taglung Tangpa Chenpo, 13th century, Central Tibet, HAR item number : 7847

Taglung Tangpa Chenpo, Tashi Pel (1142-1210): founder of Taglung Monastery (1180), central Tibet - north of Lhasa, the head monastery for the Taglung sub-lineage of the Kagyu Tradition. (Read a short biography).

At the center of the composition is Tashi Pel, the first throne holder of Taglung Monastery. He has the hands placed in a teaching gesture at the heart, wears monastic attire, and sits in vajra posture. Directly above his head is a small figure of Pagmodrubpa Dorje Gyalpo (1110-1170 [TBRC P127]).

Seated on the proper right side of Tashi Pel is Gangpa Rinchen Ozer (1175-1249 [TBRC P1AG4]), wearing similar attire and in the same posture as Tashi Pel. (See short biography below).

Seated on the left of Tashi Pel is another of the principal students Kuyalwa Rinchen Gonpo (1191-1236 [TBRC P1784]), the 2nd throne holder of Taglung Monastery.

Along the bottom of the composition are two registers. In the upper register beginning on the left side is a donor figure wearing monastic attire, followed by both meditation deities and protector deities, Chaturbhuja Mahakala, Hayagriva, Mahachakra Vajrapani, Ushnisha Chakravartin, Nila Achala, Vaishravana Riding A Lion, and Kurukulla.

In the bottom register, starting on the left side, are Vajrabhairava, Chakrasamvara (Krishnacharin), Chakrasamvara (Maitripa), Yogambhara, Mahamaya, Varahimukha Yogini, and Shri Devi Dorje Rabtenma.

Jeff Watt 3-2017

To learn more about Taglung Tangpa Chenpo, click here : https://www.himalayanart.org/search/set.cfm?setID=457

Painting Details
Shakyamuni Buddha, 16th century, Khyenri Style,
Tibet, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. HAR item number : 87204.

Set Details
The MFA Boston collection has twenty-three paintings from this Shambhala set of likely thirty-three paintings which includes the Seven Kings, Twenty-Five Vidyadhara and Shakyamuni Buddha at the center or beginning of the lineage depending on exhibition placement. (See the Atisha Twenty-one Tara set (MFA Boston) and the Suryagupta Twenty-one Tara set (Tibet Museum, Lhasa), both in a Khyenri style painting).

Explore this page to learn more about the set: https://www.himalayanart.org/search/set.cfm?setID=1955