An Example of Court Patronage to Honor a Religious Master

This exquisite Tibetan scroll painting (thangka) (figs. 1 and 2) depicts the three-headed and six-armed tantric deity Manjuvajra embracing his consort in the center of his forty-three-deity mandala. This painting once was part of a set depicting the mandalas of the Vajravali in the Nepalese-inspired Beri style. The paintings of this set are further remarkable for their informative captions, identifying most of their figures as well as their subject matter. Nevertheless, to establish the precise historical context of the creation of the set and its later usage based on the fragments that are now spread across Western museums and private collections remains challenging.

Mandalas of the Vajravali

The term Vajravali refers to the first and main part of a trilogy compiled by the late eleventh- to early twelfth-century Indian scholar Abhayakaragupta, the other parts being the Nishpannayogavali and the Jyotirmanjari. Whereas the Vajravali describes the rituals associated with twenty-six mandalas, such as their making, consecration, and initiation, the other two texts complement it by describing the visualization of their deities and the associated fire rituals.1 The Vajravali was an attempt to bring order to the diversity of ritual procedures alluded to in esoteric Buddhist literature, and the comparative point of view used in discussing the mandalas may well have provided a model for Tibetan scholars of later periods. Today the Nishpannayogavali, which contains the iconographic details of the mandala deities, ranks among the most important primary sources on Indian Buddhist iconography transmitted to Tibet.

While the Vajravali focuses on twenty-six mandalas, passing remarks about different opinions and variants in texts describing them leave considerable scope for interpretation. Consequently, Tibetan interpretations of the Vajravali may contain considerably more mandalas.2 In Tibet, these interpretations were handed down in distinct transmission lineages, and the painting set focused on here is an early witness of one such interpretation. 

Forty-Three-Deity Mandala of Manjuvajra

This mandala of Manjuvajra, a form of Manjushri, the bodhisattva of wisdom, derives from the Mayajala Tantra, as the caption on the painting also confirms: “The twenty-second Mandala; the forty-three-deity Manjushri Mayajala mandala.” The mandala is the twentieth described in detail in the text, and its iconography matches the Nishpannayogavali perfectly.3 It shows the five buddhas embracing their consorts, with the central figure of Manjuvajra taking the place of Vairochana. Four goddesses complete the central circle, and eight more goddesses inhabit the second palace. The Sixteen Bodhisattvas of the Fortunate Aeon occupy the outer palace, along with the ten wrathful deities and their consorts. The latter protect the ten directions; those protecting the zenith and nadir explain the double occupancy in the western (top) and eastern (bottom) gates. 

The paintings of this Vajravali set (figs. 3 and 4) are easy to recognize; all have the same composition dominated by a mandala taking up the full width of the canvas. Furthermore, the same teacher is represented in the top center. In this painting, that teacher has been shifted to the left of center, as his position is taken by a golden finial. Close observation reveals that a fine white line, deriving from this finial and accompanied by a flower garland, is drawn along the outermost fire ring of the mandala, which then merges with a multilayered base represented in the bottom corners of the central panel behind the deities. Thus, in this case, the mandala is coequal with a stupa that is drawn directly behind it and encompasses the entire mandala. Indeed, the Nishpannayogavali mentions that the palace of this mandala is to be drawn within a white stupa.4 

Each corner of the mandala is filled by five medallions; the smaller ones continue the teaching transmission lineage of this particular mandala in the top row, while the larger ones depict different forms of the bodhisattvas Manjushri and Avalokiteshvara. Finally, the bottom row contains four protective deities and seven goddesses personifying offerings, along with a portrayal of the receiver and practitioner of the depicted teaching, who is possibly also the donor, in the bottom right corner.

Historical Context of the Set

A characteristic of this set of mandala paintings is that many historical figures and deities are identified by tiny captions. Nevertheless, to precisely establish the historical context is challenging, and different opinions were offered in the past.5 On this painting, the main teacher to the left of the stupa’s top is vaguely referred to as “His excellency, the Lord of Dharma,”6 and the likely donor of the painting in the bottom right corner has no caption at all. 

Fortunately, the second painting of the set, depicting the thirty-two-deity mandala of Akshobhyavajra from the Guhyasamaja Tantra (fig. 4),7 is more informative in this regard. There, the inscription for the main teacher reads, “Dharma Lord Sonam Gyeltsen” (fig. 5); and the bottom right figure is identified as “The donor Dzongji Chenpo” (fig. 6).8 Clearly, since these figures repeat on each painting, their names have not been repeated on all paintings of the set. After all, in their original context all paintings would have been viewed together.

Accordingly, the top central teacher can be identified as Lama Dampa Sonam Gyeltsen (1312–1375), an idealist born in the Sakya Khon family who left the leadership of the great seat of Sakya and its political entanglements so that he could lead a more genuinely religious life.9 In the early 1370s, his religious acclaim was so great and widespread that even the rulers of the Pakmodrupa court, which succeeded the government of the Sakya tradition, held him in high esteem. It is thus no surprise that the patron of this painting set is Dzongji Gyeltsen Zangpo, a powerful functionary of the Pakmodrupa regime in the 1370s and 1380s, when its rulers were comparably weak.

The most likely scenario is that Dzongji commissioned this painting in memory of Lama Dampa after his passing in 1375. A work of this quality and complexity would take some time to produce, especially considering the many paintings that make up the whole set. And, given his extreme modesty and saintliness, Lama Dampa would not have approved such a big project in his honor while he lived.

The Beri Painting Style

Originating from the heartland of Buddhism, the art created in northeast India strongly impacted Buddhist art in Tibet, particularly down to the twelfth century. At that time, Tibet was experiencing a second revival of Buddhism, and patrons and artists avidly copied compositions from Pala-ruled northeastern India. However, from the thirteenth century on, following the destruction of the main monasteries in India, Tibetans turned more and more to Nepal’s Kathmandu Valley, home to the exceptionally skilled Newar artists, for aesthetic inspiration and artisanship. Tibetans themselves quickly began to also employ the Beri style, a Newar or “Nepalese style,” first mainly in Tsang region immediately north of the Kathmandu Valley. The Beri then became one of the country’s most influential styles, flourishing from the thirteenth through the sixteenth century.

The Vajravali painting set is an extremely refined example of the Beri style, demonstrating the enduring artistic connections between Tibetan art and the art of the Kathmandu Valley. Hallmarks of this style as they appear in this set are the dominance of vermilion, used in all the nimbuses, the dark blue background filled with blossoms, the intricate lotus scroll backgrounds filling all spaces of the mandala palace, and the lotus column pillars that support lobed arches framing the figures in the upper and lower rows of the painting. In fact, many of the dress, jewelry, and throne motifs employed for the deities themselves can be linked to Newar art.10 Furthermore, the sumptuous decorative motifs topping and flanking the mandala gates, including representations of monkeys and vases crowned by a scroll forming seven flower medallions, confirm this connection (fig. 7).

Nevertheless, the set was painted in a Tibetan workshop, as evidenced by color notations—letters used to indicate the color to be filled in—many of which can be seen where the paint layer has been abraded.11 A workshop production also accounts for the differences between the individual paintings in the set (figs. 2, 3, and 4). This workshop may well have been located in or near Lhokha, in central Tibet, near the place where Lama Dampa passed away and near the seat of the government in which the donor served.

Usage and Dispersal

Pratapaditya Pal has proposed that the paintings later ended up in Ngor Monastery.12 There is a scenario that could account for this. Ngorchen, its founder, might have received the set as an official gift from the Pakmodrupa government. When he visited central Tibet in 1441, Ngorchen was regally sponsored by the then ruler, Drakpa Jungne (1414–1445). One of his main dharma projects was to teach the Vajravali and sponsor a complete new set of its paintings at Ngor.13

Such a scenario would also account for a later very limited usage of the set, which would explain its present excellent condition. This set would not have been displayed on the occasions that abbots of Ngor gave the teachings and initiations for the Vajravali set of mandalas, using instead the more recent set commissioned by the later abbot Namkha Pelzang or even the famous Ngorchen-sponsored set (fig. 8).