Elena Pakhoutova; Lewis Doney; Daniel Alexander Hirshberg; Benjamin Bogin; Rubin Museum of Art

This book explores the iconography of Padmasambhava, a famous and timeless figure in Tibetan and Himalayan Buddhist cultures.

Padmasambhava, a legendary Buddhist master believed to be instrumental in bringing Buddhism to Tibet, is often known as “The Second Buddha.” According to popular legend, Padmasambhava miraculously appeared as a boy in a lotus blossom floating on a lake. The Second Buddha: Master of Time explores visual expressions of Padmasambhava’s legends in sculptures, textiles, paintings, illuminated manuscripts, and a portable shrine that date from the 13th to the 19th century. Essays present new scholarship on Padmasambhava and show a central and multidimensional character with an enduring place in Tibetan and Himalayan Buddhist cultures.

Published in association with the Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College

Pakhoutova, Elena, Lewis Doney, Daniel Alexander Hirshberg, and Benjamin Bogin. The Second Buddha: Master of Time. Munich, New York: Delmonico Books/Prestel, 2018.

PeoplePeople

Elena Pakhoutova is senior curator of Himalayan art at the Rubin Museum and holds a PhD in Asian art history from the University of Virginia. She has curated several exhibitions at the Rubin, including Death Is Not the End (2023), The Power of Intention: Reinventing the (Prayer) Wheel (2019), and The Second Buddha: Master of Time (2018).

Sign up for our newsletter

Your gateway to Himalayan art and its insights, with stories and news from the Rubin.

Discover artworks, articles, and more by typing a search term above, selecting a term below, or exploring common concepts in Himalayan art.