Batang, Eastern Tibet
Batang, Eastern Tibet
Butter lamps are an essential element of Tibetan Buddhist devotional practices and represent the offering of light to enlightened beings. Butter lamps are called the dharma light (chome) and can be of various sizes. This example is large and has an inscription identifying three monks as donors and the year, month, and place of their offering, Batang Monastery in eastern Tibet. The inscription states, “The vessel of the precious substance that illuminates all the world” was “carved out of the second precious substance [silver], containing 100 oz. + 30 + 4 sho – 2 ½ skar, it is a joyful offering.”*
On loan from the Collection of The Newark Museum.
*From the Sacred Realm: Treasures of Tibetan Art from the Newark Museum, p. 147
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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