Tibet
16th century (ca. 1500)
Tibet
16th century (ca. 1500)
This painting is a particularly fine example of a mandala with two palaces, a square palace inside of a larger circular palace. This mandala, with its two hundred nineteen deities, is the first of seven principal mandalas from an Indian Sanskrit text called the Manjushri Namasangiti (“Chanting the Names of Manjushri”) Tantra. Monks and lamas from all Himalayan traditions memorize this text in early childhood.At the bottom of the painting is an inscription dedicating the painting to the Five Superior Teachers of the Sakya tradition by the instructor Rabjampa Tsultrim Ozer and a number of other students of the teacher Sherab Zangpo. It is likely that this painting belongs to a larger set of works commissioned by a group of individuals who came together to fund this expensive undertaking.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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