Glossary

Vases are an important part of ritual paraphernalia and the iconography of many deities; they are often understood to contain the elixir of life. The central bulb of a stupa is often also called a “vase.”

A dhoti is a traditional Indian lower-body garment for men, made of a cloth wrapped around the waist and tucked through the legs from the back.

In Tibetan Buddhism and Bon, a gau is an amulet box, often gilded or painted, that contains sacred objects like images, mantras and dharanis, relics, tsatsas, and medicinal pills. Tibetans often wear gaus on a cord around the neck, or slung across the shoulder.

The kirtimukha is a symbolic element in South Asian art—a mask-like face of a fanged beast. Kirtimukhas are usually placed above other elements, such as upper portions of the carved portals, throne backs, or as a row adorning the upper portions of the painted walls.

In Vajrayana Buddhism or Bon, a mandala refers to a cosmic abode of a deity, usually depicted as a diagram of a circle with an inscribed square that represents the deity enthroned in their palace, surrounded by members of their retinue. Mandalas can be painted, three-dimensional models, architectural structures, such as temples or stupas, or composed as arrangements of images within a temple. The instructions for creating and visualizing mandalas are usually found in ritual texts, such as tantras and sadhanas. Mandalas can be used in initiation ceremonies, visualized by a practitioner as part of deity yoga, consecrated and used to represent the divine presence within ritual space, offered to the deities as representations of the entire universe. A similar concept in Hinduism is a yantra.

Pagoda is an architectural form found all across South and East Asia. Pagodas are tall, tower-like structures with multiple tiers of sloping eaves, usually square or octagonal, and often get smaller with height. In Nepal and Tibet pagodas are usually used as temples. In China many pagodas functioned as stupas. Other pagodas are used as mosque minarets (towers used for the Islamic call to prayer).

A pecha is a traditional form of Tibetan book, a format developed from Indian palm leaf manuscripts (pothis). Pechas usually have long, narrow, horizontal pages. The pages are not bound, but instead are placed between wood covers and then wrapped tightly with cloth. When pechas are read, they are placed on a flat surface and the unbound pages are flipped over away from the viewer. Pechas can be manuscripts or printed.

A pothi is a traditional form of Indian book. Pothis generally have palm-leaf pages. The pages are bound along their long edge with loops of string, and then kept between wooden outer covers. Both the pages and the covers can be beautifully illuminated. Indian and Nepalese pothis were the basis for the development of Tibetan pechas, a related form of book that uses unbound paper instead of palm leaves.

In Vajrayana Buddhism and Bon, a purba (Skt. kila) is a ritual three-bladed dagger or stake used to subdue or pin down the spirits of the earth during rituals, or when demarcating sacred space for mandalas or temples. Purba daggers are also personified in the deity Vajrakila, the “Vajra Dagger.”

In the Buddhist context, a relic is an object or body part of a past master or sacred figure, including Buddha Shakyamuni himself (bones, ashes from cremation, even entire mummified bodies). Another important category of relics is called “sharira” in Sanskrit (Tib. ringsel)— small, pearl-like objects that are found within the cremated remains of enlightened teachers. Another category, known as contact relics, includes things owned or touched by religious masters, such as the Buddha’s robe or bowl. Important types widely used in Himalayan regions are dharma relics (dharma sharira), which are pressed clay plaques inscribed with the verse of dependent origination or mantras. Relics can be placed inside stupas, ground up and used for medicine, or kept in temples for the reverence of pilgrims. A container that holds relics is called a “reliquary.”

A reliquary is any container that contains relics. Important types of Himalayan reliquaries include stupas and gau boxes.

Stupas are monuments that initially contained cremated remains of Buddha Shakyamuni or important monks, his disciples, and subsequently other material and symbolic relics associated with the Buddha’s body, teaching, and enlightened mind. As representations of the Buddha’s presence in the world, stupas with their contents—texts, relics, tsatsas—continue to be important objects of Buddhist worship in their diverse forms of domed structures, multistoried pagodas, and portable sculptures. The original form of stupas was an earthen dome-shaped mound containing the remains in reliquary vessels or urns deposited within the innermost core. The dome would often be successively enlarged and surrounded by a path for a walk around in a clockwise direction and veneration (circumambulation)

A thangka is a Tibetan hanging scroll, usually painted on cotton, and then mounted in a silk brocade mount. Thangkas can also be textiles woven or assembled in the appliqué technique. Thangkas are often kept rolled up around a wooden dowel affixed to the bottom end of the silk mounting, which also helps keep the scroll flat when hung. Almost all thangkas show religious subjects. Similar paintings produced in Nepal are called “paubha.”

Torana is a Sanskrit word that usually refers to a gateway, but in Nepalese usage it is generally used for the decorative upper panel framing the top of a doorway (or other portal like a window), that embellish the entrances to shrines, temples, and Buddhist monasteries. Toranas in Nepal are typically adorned with mythological creatures, such as snake spirit (naga), water monster (makara), and the “sky face ” (kirtimukha). A set of six ornaments commonly found on Tibetan toranas are: a mythical bird (Garuda) at top, holding the tails of a pair of coiling snake spirits (naga), water monsters (makara), a pair of leogryphs, ridden by youths, supported by a pair elephants at the bottom.

In Tibetan Buddhism and Bon, a torma is a sculpture made from butter and barley dough that is usually dyed. Tormas are used for a variety of purposes in rituals, and can be offerings to the gods, or consecrated as receptacles of divine power. In exorcistic rituals, evil forces are invited into the tormas, which are then brought outside of the settlement and destroyed. These tormas can be understood as ransom in exchange for victims plagued by spirits, or as a substitute for animal sacrifice. Some monasteries have traditions of making huge, beautifully decorated tormas, which are viewed by pilgrims at festivals like the Monlam Chenmo. Tormas can be figurative (images that depict the gods or other scenes), or they can be aniconic (symbolic shapes).

In Tibetan Buddhism, a tsatsa is a small sculpture created by pressing clay into a mold. Tsatsas can depict deities, stupas, auspicious signs, and more. Some tsatsas have medicinal plants, or the cremated ashes of loved ones mixed into the clay and taken to various sacred sites to generate merit for their better rebirth. In Newar context, a grain of rice is added. Tsatsas are created to generate religious merit and are often consecrated and then placed within stupas, or made by pilgrims and devotees and left at sacred sites. Tibetans have been creating tsatsas since around the eleventh century, and tsatsa making remains a common practice among lay devotees today.

In the Vedas, vajras are the indestructibly hard thunderbolts that Indra hurls at his enemies. Over time, the vajra became the name for a type of ritual weapon, with a handle at the center and a five-pronged point at each end. Vajras are a central image in and symbol of tantric forms of Buddhism, which are often called “Vajrayana” or the “Vajra Vehicle.” Vajrayana ritualists use vajras (representing active compassion or method) often paired with a bell (representing wisdom) in practices of deity yoga. The Tibetan word for a vajra is “dorje,” meaning “Lord among stones.”

In weaving, the warp are the horizontal fibers that are held taught and stationary against the loom. The weft are the vertical fibers, which are woven into the weft to form a single sheet of fabric.

A yurt, called “ger” in Mongolian, is a dome-like tent made of felt and an internal framework of wood slats used by nomads on the steppes of northern Asia. The yurt can be quickly assembled and disassembled and packed for travel and is still being used in Mongolia as a summer home.