Mandala of Chakrasamvara

Artwork Details

Title: Mandala of Chakrasamvara

Dimensions: 26 1/2 × 22 in. (estimated)

Medium: Pigments on cloth

Origin: Tibet

Classification(s): paintings

Date: 14th-15th century

Credit Line: Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art, Gift of Shelley and Donald Rubin

Object number: C2006.66.138

Currently On View: at Frank Museum of Art, traveling exhibition Gateway to Himalayan Art, until December 12, 2024

HAR Number: 97

Published references

Rob Linrothe, Holy Madness: Portraits of Tantric Siddhas (Rubin Museum of Art, Serindia Publications, 2006), 63-66, fig.3.3.
Rob Linrothe and Jeff Watt, Demonic Divine: Himalayan Art and Beyond (Rubin Museum of Art; Serindia Publications, 2004), 96, no. 42.
Glenn H. Mullin and Jeff Watt, Female Buddhas: Women of Enlightenment in Tibetan Mystical Art (Clear Light Publishers, 2003), 166-167.
Marylin M. Rhie and Robert A.F. Thurman, Worlds of Transformation: Tibetan Art and Wisdom of Compassion (Tibet House, 1999), 34, 430-431, fig. 4, cat. 170.

Ritual

Concepts

Prescribed practices that carry symbolic meaning and value within a specific tradition and are intended to attain a desired outcome. Rituals are usually done as part of a ceremony or regular routine.

A religious movement that originated in India around the fifth to seventh century with sacred writings and esoteric teachings and practices transmitted from teacher to student through initiation. These remain an important part of Hinduism and Buddhism today. 

Meditation

Concepts

A contemplative practice in which a person uses concentration and visualization to achieve aims such as transforming the mind and generating feelings of compassion. Techniques include focusing on breathing or visualizing oneself as a deity.

Mandala

Figure Type

A geometrically shaped tool used for meditation and visualization in Buddhist practice. It is a representation of the palace of a deity and the Buddhist conception of the cosmos.

Tibetan Regions

Region

Today, Tibetans primarily inhabit the Tibetan Plateau, situated between the Himalayan mountain range and the Indian subcontinent to the west, Chinese cultural regions to the east, and Mongolian cultural regions to the northeast. During the 7th to 9th century, Tibetan rulers expanded their empire across Central Asia, and established Buddhism as the state religion.