Tibetan Buddhism originated in texts and practices adopted from northern India. Northeastern India, immediately to the south of Tibet, is the birthplace of Buddhism and home to the main pilgrimage sites celebrating the Buddha’s life.
Tibetan Buddhism originated in texts and practices adopted from northern India. Northeastern India, immediately to the south of Tibet, is the birthplace of Buddhism and home to the main pilgrimage sites celebrating the Buddha’s life.
This region and Kashmir to the northwest were major artistic centers, and the work produced there was well known and collected in Tibet. Broadly speaking, Tibetan art inherited its proportions and much of its symbolism from Indian precedents.
This section displays objects from northeastern India and Kashmir. Tibetans have retrospectively categorized their art based on visual models from these two areas. Tibetan art following the traditions of northeastern India is called the Eastern Indian Style (Sharri or Shar luk). Tibetan art modeled on the traditions of Kashmir and the Western Himalayas is called the Artistic Tradition of Kashmir (Kache luk).
Select each work to learn more.
Eastern India, Probably Bodhgaya
ca. 11th century
According to Buddhist tradition, Bodhgaya is the place where the Buddha meditated under the Bodhi tree and attained his awakened state. Mahabodhi Temple was built to commemorate this event, becoming a pilgrimage site revered across the Buddhist world, and often reproduced as portable pilgrimage souvenirs like this one. Such small models have been found in Burma and Tibet. This model was likely created in Bodhgaya itself. It represents what the temple may have looked like in the eleventh century, shortly before it fell into ruin.
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