Himalayan Art

The concept of Original Artistic Intent is difficult to apply to Tibetan thangkas. Thangkas are composite objects produced by painters and tailors with differing intents, skills and training. Iconographic specifications, regional and doctrinal differences in style, changes in form from harsh treatment and altered mountings all complicate the issue. 2008

This article focuses on a specific iconography of the dGe lugs pa school. This iconography is known by the name of tshogs zhing (a spiritual field for the accumulation of merits), here analyzed in its 18 th century form. The images described here are an essential tool for the religious practice prescribed by the dgGe lugs pa's bla ma mchod pa tantric literature. As an esoteric literature, the bla ma mchod pa is based on an "essential instruction" (man ngag) which gathers teachings on the main tantras of the so called niruttara classes. This paper will discuss the oldest iconography of the bla ma mchod pa tshogs zhing, directly related to the root text of the first Paṇ chen Bla ma Blo bzang Chos kyi rgyal mtshan (1567-1662). Among the many images of tshogs zhing I have analyzed 1-almost identical in the representation of this specific subject-I present here a xylograph (Fig. 2) and a thang ka (Fig. 1). The xylograph, realized in the style of the 18 th century's woodblocks of sNar thang, 2 is an uncatalogued item of the Tucci Tibetan Collection (IsIAO Library, Rome). The thang ka is property of a Tibetan private citizen living now in Bodhgaya, in the Indian state of Bihar. 3 Within the dGe lugs pa order, the bla ma mchod pa literature stems from essential tantric and esoteric instructions (man ngag) related to the guru devotion liturgies and practices prescribed by guruyoga literature. 4 In order to receive these particular man 1 Research has been done in the dGe lugs pa monasteries of Ladakh, McLeod Ganj and the Kathmandu Valley. Further sources of comparison were several catalogues on Tibetan art (see below) and the web site www.himalayanart.org. As primary sources, I also studied and translated two texts, Sangs rgyas ye shes's Bla ma mchod pa'i cho ga dngos grub kun 'byung, and Ye shes rgyal mtshan's Bla ma lha'i rnal 'byor gyi khrid dmigs kyi bsdus don snyan rgyud gter mdzod 'byed pa'i lde mig (see the bibliography for complete references). 2 A monastery located 15 km west of Shigatse, in gTsang (Central Tibet), which is famous as a printery. 3 I wish to thank the former President of IsIAO, the late Professor Gherardo Gnoli, and Mr. Thinlay Nepali for allowing me to study and show the xylograph and the thang ka presented here. 4 Bla ma mchod pa translates the Sanskrit term gurupūjā. Concerning the meaning of mchod pa, see Makransky 1996.

Introduction

In 1631, the Jesuit missionary Francisco de Azevedo, one of the very first Westerners to enter Ladakh, visited Hanle, in the remote highlands of Chang-thang. Whereas currently Hanle is restricted to foreigners due to its location near the disputed Indo-Chinese border, the aristocratic Portuguese was then able to report that there lived the highest and much revered spiritual authority in the kingdom: “the Pope of Ladakh.”  This was a Tibetan contemplative Drukpa (‘brug pa) yogi, the First Taktsang Repa (Stag-tshang Ras-pa, 1574-1652). 

His authority in the region was granted by the Dharma King (chos rgyal) Senge Namgyal (r. c. 1624-1642), the ruler who evolved as the most powerful and cherished king of Ladakh, brilliantly protecting, expanding and developing the kingdom and asserting his authority over all Ngari Korsum.  Under his patronage, Taktsang Repa founded a yogic centre in 1630 at Hemis in Central Ladakh. Whereas he also established several other shrines, Hemis eventually became the seat of his incarnation line and the symbol of religious authority in the region, growing over centuries as the biggest and richest monastery of Ladakh, and probably of the whole western Himalayas. Today it is still connected to several hundred Drukpa shrines in Ladakh and beyond, in West Tibet and Indian Himachal Pradesh.

A Museum was created in Hemis in 2007. In the midst of its stunning collection stands an extraordinary painted silk scroll document from 1943, which deals with the Sixth Taktsang Incarnate (1941-present). Hemis monks introduce that scroll as his official recognition by the 14th Dalai Lama, but this Tulku (sprul-sku, incarnate master), which they traditionally call Kyabgon (sKyab-mgon or “Protector and Refuge”), is yet an elusive figure. Forced to remain in Tibet since the Chinese crackdown of 1959 over 60 years ago, he is hardly known to the present generations of Ladakhis. The supreme significance of his successive incarnations is therefore fading in Ladakh, and has been little investigated by international scholars.

This article is primarily a study of the Hemis silk scroll and the stories it tells, presented at the IALS Conference in Kargil in 2015. However, an earlier document from 1896, a copy of which is preserved in the British Library, appears to be very related. Both authored by the Dalai Lama of their time, these texts express retrospective praises of the incarnation line of Taktsang Repa and list special honorific titles and attributes bestowed to the living incarnation—the Fifth Incarnate in 1896, the Sixth in 1943. Yet although Taktsang Rinpoche is essentially a spiritual leader, both also deviate in chorus to mention military cooperation and official missions instituted by the Peace Treaty between Tibet and Ladakh signed in 1684: the Lopchak (lo phyag) mission from Leh to Lhasa, and the Shungtsong (gzhung tshong) mission from Lhasa to Leh. Probably based on earlier exchanges, these missions linked diplomatically and commercially the two countries until 1959.  The documents in praise of the Taktsang incarnation lineage thus reflect in unison the relationship history of two major Himalayan Buddhist countries in the intricate matters of religion, politics and trade.

Le chamane est un guérisseur et un guerrier. Lors des séances de cures, il s’applique pour le bien de sa com- munauté à renverser l’emprise des entités malfaisantes sur les humains, afin de rétablir la protection du groupe. Pour ce faire, le guerrier-guérisseur part à la recherche d’un diagnostic, d’une âme ou d’une bataille à livrer, évo- luant dans un monde sauvage, peuplé d’aïeux et d’esprits bienfaiteurs, de créatures démoniaques et de fantômes sournois. Afin de devenir le réceptacle des êtres invisibles et de montrer sa force d’intervention, le chamane se pare d’accessoires et de vêtements rituels. Ce couple d’attributs élabore le costume du chamane, véritable ar- mure, où réside dans chaque élément qui le compose le pouvoir des ancêtres. Et c’est ce rattachement transgéné- rationnel du costume à une lignée de chamanes qui anime le guérisseur d’un concentré de force, accumulé à travers les âges.

For initiated viewers, the murals, thangkas and sculptures visible in Vajrayana Buddhist temples and shrines illustrate key rituals, deities, and lineage masters that provide important supports to practice. Yet often these objects carry additional, deeper meanings that can only be understood when we take into account the artists and patrons who contributed to their creation. Drawing on new research, this paper focuses on particular artists who created works for display and use in Bhutanese ritual environments, with special attention paid to objects created in the early post-Zhabdrung era.

The study takes as its point of departure one of the foremost artists in Bhutanese history: Tsang Khenchen Palden Gyatso (gtsang mkhan chen dpal ldan rgya mtsho; 1610-1684), who arrived in Bhutan in the second half of the 17th century. Tsang Khenchen—and the Bhutanese students he trained—constitute a major foundation of what can be termed ‘Bhutanese art’ on a national scale, and this paper analyses the impacts of Tsang Khenchen and his atelier in highlighting important Vajrayana Buddhist rituals, practices, and lineage masters through their artistic output.

Due to the comparative political and social stability of Bhutan over the centuries, works attributable to Tsang Khenchen and other important artists survive intact to the present. These works constitute the core of this paper, which hopes to offer evidence of the ways Bhutanese art evolved to fit a new nation in 17th century Bhutan, and how resulting works employed Vajrayana Buddhist imagery to reflect a distinctly ‘Bhutanese’ identity and artistic style. This paper is one facet of a larger, longer term research project undertaken in collaboration with the National Library and Archives of Bhutan that seeks to identify, examine and analyze those individual artists whose creations provide key touchstones to Bhutanese art history.

**A version of this paper appeared in Orientations 48/3 (May/June 2017)

This paper analyses the values and uses of Tibetan sacred artefacts in their original contexts as well as the transformation of meanings once placed in museums. It discusses the perception of statues, paintings, ritual instruments and books from a Tibetan Buddhist perspective, examining the iconographic and iconometric functions of the images, and asserting that a primary purpose is as a ‘support for practice’ (tib. sku rten, ‘body-support’). Sacred images represent the embodiment of the Buddhas, deities and masters and, once consecrated by lamas, are considered to have the power to confer blessings. Despite the instrumental function of such artefacts, however, it is also possible to identify and delineate a complex Himalayan concept of aesthetics. The text moves on to analyse the effects of the transition of Tibetan Buddhist images into different museological contexts, comparing the display of Tibetan material in the consecrated spaces of Himalayan monastery museums with their exhi...

The medieval arts and history of western Nepal remain poor relatives of Himalayan studies. In 1994, Ian Alsop published in this magazine the first study ever dedicated to the metal sculptures of the Khasa Malla kingdom (Alsop, 1994). His contribution to the field is of the greatest value as it brought to light an overlooked 12th- to 14th-century central Himalayan empire, stretching from Uttarakhand to Mustang, and demonstrated its appeal to Buddhism and Buddhist art. The purpose of this paper is to further Alsop’s study by focusing on Ripu Malla, a particularly active Khasa Malla ruler of the early 14th century. By doing so, the metal sculptures attributed to the period of the Khasa Malla kings will be contextualized with the artistic heritage of western Nepal, where the rulers had their capitals.

Introduction
Le Musée tibétain fondé par Alain Bordier se trouve dans la petite ville romande de Gruyères réputée pour son caractère médiéval. Il abrite une importante collection de sculptures, peintures et objets rituels bouddhistes réunis avec soin pendant près de 25 ans. Cette collection comporte près de 300 objets, dont la plupart sont originaires du Tibet. Certaines sculptures en métal, parmi lesquelles se trouvent des oeuvres rares, proviennent néanmoins aussi de régions bouddhistes voisines, le Népal, les contreforts de l’Himalaya ainsi que le Nord de l’Inde et la Birmanie. Les images les plus anciennes du Musée tibétain datent du VIIe siècle et viennent des régions du Cachemire et du Swat, dans le Nord-Ouest de la Péninsule indienne. En outre, quelques images fondues ou sculptées de plus petites dimensions furent produites dans le royaume Påla du Nord-Est de l’Inde ou illustrent la tradition artistique birmane (Myanmar) fortement influencée par cette école du Nord-Est. La plupart de ces objets, même ceux d’origine indienne et népalaise, trouvèrent dans les monastères tibétains un abri où certains demeurèrent pendant plus de mille ans. La collection d’Alain Bordier s’est constituée durant le dernier quart du XXe siècle, comme maintes autres qui purent toutes se développer grâce aux réfugiés tibétains. Ces derniers, chassés entre 1966 et 1969 par la Révolution Culturelle chinoise, trouvèrent refuge au Népal et en Inde où ils apportèrent d’innombrables objets religieux. Près de trois mille monastères tibétains furent détruits à l’époque, nombre d’entre eux purent néanmoins êtres reconstruits depuis. Malgré des pertes considérables dues aux pillages et aux destructions, beaucoup d’objets religieux survécurent heureusement intacts.  Dans plusieurs grands monastères qui sont demeurés pratiquement saufs, plus de deux cent mille sculptures et peintures bouddhiques purent ainsi être préservées jusqu’à nos jours.
Alain Bordier m’a accompagné à sept reprises dans des voyages d’études au Tibet, entre 1992 et 2000. Nous avons passé des heures inoubliables à admirer les collections du Palais du Potala et du temple Jokhang à Lhassa, le lieu le plus sacré du Tibet. Nous avons visité et étudié les oeuvres d’art de nombreux autres monastères, dont Drepung, Drigung, Gyantse, Mindroling, Nor, Nethang, Reting, Sakya, Shalu, Sera, Thalung, et Tandruk, pour n’en citer que quelques-uns. Cela fut toujours pour moi un réel plaisir que de le conseiller dans le choix des objets de sa collection, et de l’aider à se constituer une bibliothèque et à documenter sa collection.
Puisse cette publication constituer une ouverture vers l’univers de la culture tibétaine dont la fascination s’exerce de plus en plus forte dans le monde entier.

Mariahalden, Weesen, 2008                                                                                                                                                                   U.v.S.

Here I investigate Drukpa Kagyu (’Brug pa bKa’ brgyud) and Bhutanese ('Brug yul) painting, summarizing my preliminary findings on history and iconography. It appeared in a book edited by J. Ardussi and Sonam Tobgay that was published in 2008. in Thimphu by the National Library of Bhutan. The book entitled Written Treasures of Bhutan: Mirror of the Past and Bridge to the Future was the proceedings of a symposium in Bhutan.

The Kukri knife, also written as Khukuri, Khukri, Khookree, Kookeri, Kukoori, Koorkerie, Kookery, Kukery, Koukoori, Khokreis, Cookri, Gurkha Knife and other variations, takes its name from the Nepali word "खुकुरी" . This dagger-knife is today world famous and known as the Symbol of the Gurkhas, National weapon of Nepal and a most excellent knife with a long and ancient history. Ive used the term "Kukri" over the more proper "Khukuri" as it is
probably a wider used word and thus more familiar to the reader. We here explore what has been written regarding the Kukri knife over the past 200 years, from the dawn of modern Nepal, Anglo-Nepal War, The Great Wars and until modern day.

Heimbel, Jörg. 2019. The Ngor Branch Monastery of Go mig (sTeng rgyud) in Spiti: Its Foundation and Place Within the Religious History of Western Tibet. In Dieter Schuh and Jörg Heimbel, Beiträge zur politischen Geschichte von Spiti zwischen 1629 und 1842 und zur Geschichte der Sa-skya-pa-Schule im äußersten Westen des tibetischen Hochlandes: Rechtsdokumente aus dem Kloster Gog-mig (~ sTeng-rgyud) in Spiti. 2. Teil: Beiträge von Jörg Heimbel. Monumenta Tibetica Historica, Abteilung III: Diplomata, Epistolae et Leges, Band 18 (2). Andiast: International Institute for Tibetan and Buddhist Studies (IITBS).

This essay is a preliminary investigation into the history of the Ngor branch monastery of Go mig (sTeng rgyud) in Spiti. It also outlines the history of the Sa skya school in fifteenth-century Western Tibet and presents some observations about a hermitage and its murals near Go mig which can be linked to the ’Bri gung school. 

For images of the legal documents discussed in this essay, please see under the following links:

https://www.academia.edu/39009231/MTH_III_18_Teil_1_Beitr%C3%A4ge_von_Dieter_Schuh_in_Dieter_Schuh_und_J%C3%B6rg_Heimbel_Beitr%C3%A4ge_zur_politischen_Geschichte_von_Spiti_und_zur_Geschichte_der_Sa-skya-pa-Schule_im_%C3%A4ussersten_Westen_des_tibetischen_Hochlandes_Rechtsdokumente_aus_dem_Kloster_Gog-mig_sTeng-rgyud_in_Spiti

and

https://www.academia.edu/39009245/MTH_III_18_Teil_2_Beitr%C3%A4ge_von_Dieter_Schuh_in_Dieter_Schuh_und_J%C3%B6rg_Heimbel_Beitr%C3%A4ge_zur_politischen_Geschichte_von_Spiti_und_zur_Geschichte_der_Sa-skya-pa-Schule_im_%C3%A4ussersten_Westen_des_tibetischen_Hochlandes_Rechtsdokumente_aus_dem_Kloster_Gog-mig_sTeng-rgyud_in_Spiti

Introduction
The Tibet Museum founded by Alain Bordier is located in the small Swiss town of Gruyères, famous for its medieval character. The Tibet Museum houses an important collection of Buddhist sculptures and paintings in addition to ritual objects. Alain Bordier established this collection with great care over a period of more than twenty-five years. It consists of about three hundred objects, mainly originating from Tibet. However, among the statues are a number of objects that were manufactured in the ancient Buddhist cultures surrounding Tibet: there are rare Buddhist sculptures from the kingdom of Nepal and other Himalayan regions, in addition to examples from Northern India and Burma (Myanmar). The oldest Buddhist statues in the Tibet Museum date from the 7th century and originate from North-Western India, in particular the greater Swat and Kashmir regions. The art of the Påla Empire of North-Eastern India and its influence on the tradition of Buddhist art in Burma is documented by mostly small-sized brass and stone sculptures.
The majority of the objects in the Tibet Museum, also those of Indian and Nepalese provenance, were originally retained in Tibetan monasteries, sometimes for more than a thousand years. Like other collections of Tibetan art, Alain Bordier established his collection during the last quarter of the 20th century when Tibetan refugees brought great numbers of religious objects with them into exile in India and Nepal. The reason behind this enormous exodus of Tibetans to Nepal and India was the Chinese occupation of Tibet in 1959 followed by the “cultural revolution” between 1966 and 1969. During that period about three thousand Tibetan monasteries were destroyed resulting in an enormous loss through destruction and theft. A few large monasteries survived these times almost intact. In their custody are still more than two hundred thousand Buddhist sculptures and paintings.  Many of the destroyed monasteries have since been rebuilt.
Between 1992 and 2000 Alain Bordier accompanied me on seven expeditions to Tibet. On our travels we spent many unforgettable hours studying the collections of the Potala Palace and the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa. We visited a number of other monasteries and studied jointly their collections, such as those at Drepung, Drigung, Gyantse, Mindroling, Nor, Nethang, Reting, Sakya, Shalu, Sera, Thalung, and Tandruk. It was my pleasure to assist Alain Bordier in establishing his collection, documentation, and library.
It is my wish to present with this publication an introduction into the world of Tibetan culture that fascinates a growing number of people all over the world.

Mariahalden, Weesen, 2008                                                                                                                                 U.v.S.

Le Ladakh constitue la plus vaste, la plus élevée et la plus occidentale des régions naturelles de l’Himalaya. Bien que politiquement rattachée à l’état indien du Jammu et Cachemire, elle est géographiquement située aux confins de l’Asie Centrale, de la Chine, du Tibet et de l’Inde. Par conséquent nous pouvons présumer que cette situation privilégiée lui a conféré une importance historique majeure. Cependant, le Ladakh a fait l’objet de peu de recherches archéologiques : on compte seulement trois sondages. Le manque de données est aujourd’hui comblé par un matériel
abondant, varié et fiable : l’art rupestre. Véritables créations picturales ou simples graffiti, les pétroglyphes sont des marqueurs spatio-temporels immuables, qui ne peuvent mentir ni sur leur
provenance ni celle de leurs auteurs. De part leur quantité (on en connaît plusieurs milliers) et leur variété (ils illustrent des êtres  anthropomorphes, zoomorphes, des monuments et des signes), ils
recèlent des informations essentielles pour l’histoire du peuplement. Puisque les représentations rupestres couvrent une période s’étendant de la Préhistoire à l’époque moderne nous avons opéré un choix pour notre étude. Par une analyse comparative thématique et stylistique des images gravées nous sommes en mesure d’inscrire le Ladakh au sein du groupe des cultures des steppes à l’Âge du Bronze et à l’Âge du Fer ainsi que de l’identifier comme carrefour culturel pour la diffusion du  Bouddhisme au Ier millénaire de notre ère. Les axes de recherches retenus s’inscrivent dans la thématique des recherches archéologiques menées actuellement en Asie centrale.

Ladakh is the largest, highest and westernmost region of the Himalayas. Although it belongs to India’s state of Jammu and Kashmir, it is located at the crossroads of Central Asia, China, Tibet and India. We may assume that this unique location resulted into a major historical importance. However Ladakh’s history prior the 15th century is rather fragmentary and legendary. Very limited archaeological researches have been conducted in this Himalayan region. In the light of successful rock art projects lead in Central Asia and in the northern areas of Pakistan, petroglyphs appeared as the most promising and easily available material to carry out the first systematic archaeological study of Ladakh. In the course of my PhD I gathered about 15, 000 petroglyphs scattered over 100 rock sites. A comparative analysis of zoomorphic and anthropomorphic representations shows that during the Bronze and Iron Ages (2500-300 BC) Ladakh shared thematic and stylistic traits with the Central Asian steppes. Later on, at the beginning of the 1st millennium AD, several rock inscriptions in kharosthi and brahmi are
firm testimonies that Ladakh was under the influence of the Indian cultural expansion. Then, Tibetan rock inscriptions in Ladakh datable to the second half of the first millennium provide evidence for the
expansion of the Tibetan empire (7th-11th centuries) into the western regions. These inscriptions are frequently accompanied by engraved representations of Buddhist stūpa. The typological and comparative study of these enables us to better apprehend the introduction and diffusion of Buddhism into Ladakh. In summary my researches on the rock art of Ladakh allows for the first time to propose a secure cultural sequence of the region from Protohistory to the Medieval Period. It also demonstrates that the Himalayas have never been a barrier between Central Asia, the Indian subcontinent and the Tibetan plateau and that Ladakh always has been a cultural crossroad.

ABSTRACT: This project investigates the materials and techniques used by Tibetan artists. Six Tibetan thangkas were analyzed by infrared reflectography, energy dispersive x-ray fluorescence, Fourier transform infrared microspectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive spectroscopy, and high-performance liquid chroma-tography. The analysis has suggested that three thangkas of the eighteenth - nineteenth century have a traditional palette, which includes azurite, vermilion, orpiment, bronchantite, red lead, dolomite, magnesite, organic red with calcite or magnesite substrate, and alumino-silicate clay minerals. Another late nineteenth or early twentieth century thangka shows the use of Western pigments such as emerald green, ultramarine, calcite, gypsum, chrome yellow, gold color from brass powder, and red and yellow dyes with barium sulfate substrates. Two twentieth century thangkas made for the tourist trade revealed a twentieth century palette such as titanium dioxide, phthalocyanine blue, phthalocyanine green, and other pigments such as red lead, chrome yellow, barium sulfate, and gypsum.

The diminutive rock-cut temple at Thal was first reported in 1916, and later described briefly in 1975. So far, there has been no detailed description or drawings published, for the same. In this paper, we describe this small, but important monument, present measured drawings for the same, and speculate on the possible date of the rock-cut temple, based on comparison with similar monuments in the region and elsewhere.

Objet de l'étude : Etude et conservation d'une peinture de culte tibétain Sujet technico-scientifique : Suivi colorimétrique des modifications optiques induites par la nébulisation d'un adhésif collagénique sur une couche picturale non vernie.

The focus of this article is firstly to examine some aspects of the Kukri (Khukuri) in relation to Col. Kirkpatrick´s mission to Nepal (Nepaul) in 1793. In doing this I´ll attempt to place it in a historical context and briefly discuss the Kukri`s meaning in Nepal.
given is taken from his work published in 1811.

The Kukri & Kora (Kohara) in Col. Kirkpatrick`s work is the very first illustration of a Kukri knife and the Kora sword,  we
have record of and  could for the first time in history
be seen in a book. It thus allowed the British public and of course the World at large to gain knowledge about some of the weapons of the hill mean that have since then been strongly associated to Nepal and thue Gurkha/Gorkha soldier (and regiment/brigade).

This paper presents recent research on one thangka from the National Museum of Bhutan collection, depicting the theme of Zhabdrung Phunsum Tshogpa (zhabs drung phun sum tshogs pa), or ‘submitting [oneself] to the one with perfect qualities’. The composition converges around the 17th century religious and political master, Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal (zhabs drung ngag dbang rnam rgyal, 1594-1651).

Article appeared in E. Lo Bue ed., a special art history issue of the Tibet Journal, vol. 27 (2002).

This article documents the life of Nyurla Yeshe Jamyang (Ye shes 'jam dbyangs) of Ladakh, who in the 1980s was one of the last surviving upholders of the rare Driri Style ('bri ris) of Drikung (Drigung) monastery in northern Central Tibet. I later documented in more detail the career of this painter from Nyurla, Lamayuru, Ladakh in chapter 10 of my catalog Painting Traditions of the Drigung Kagyu School (Masterworks of Tibetan Painting Series, 5).

I also documented his Driri Style paintings in my 2004 article on painting traditions of Ladakh: Recent Painting Traditions of Ladakh Central Tibetan Styles in Far Western Tibet.

Le Ladakh constitue la plus vaste, la plus élevée et la plus occidentale des régions naturelles de l’Himalaya. Bien que politiquement rattachée à l’état indien du Jammu et Cachemire, elle est géographiquement située aux confins de l’Asie Centrale, de la Chine, du Tibet et de l’Inde. Par conséquent nous pouvons présumer que cette situation privilégiée lui a conféré une importance historique majeure. Cependant, le Ladakh a fait l’objet de peu de recherches archéologiques : on compte seulement trois sondages. Le manque de données est aujourd’hui comblé par un matériel
abondant, varié et fiable : l’art rupestre. Véritables créations picturales ou simples graffiti, les pétroglyphes sont des marqueurs spatio-temporels immuables, qui ne peuvent mentir ni sur leur
provenance ni celle de leurs auteurs. De part leur quantité (on en connaît plusieurs milliers) et leur variété (ils illustrent des êtres  anthropomorphes, zoomorphes, des monuments et des signes), ils
recèlent des informations essentielles pour l’histoire du peuplement. Puisque les représentations rupestres couvrent une période s’étendant de la Préhistoire à l’époque moderne nous avons opéré un choix pour notre étude. Par une analyse comparative thématique et stylistique des images gravées nous sommes en mesure d’inscrire le Ladakh au sein du groupe des cultures des steppes à l’Âge du Bronze et à l’Âge du Fer ainsi que de l’identifier comme carrefour culturel pour la diffusion du  Bouddhisme au Ier millénaire de notre ère. Les axes de recherches retenus s’inscrivent dans la thématique des recherches archéologiques menées actuellement en Asie centrale.

Ladakh is the largest, highest and westernmost region of the Himalayas. Although it belongs to India’s state of Jammu and Kashmir, it is located at the crossroads of Central Asia, China, Tibet and India. We may assume that this unique location resulted into a major historical importance. However Ladakh’s history prior the 15th century is rather fragmentary and legendary. Very limited archaeological researches have been conducted in this Himalayan region. In the light of successful rock art projects lead in Central Asia and in the northern areas of Pakistan, petroglyphs appeared as the most promising and easily available material to carry out the first systematic archaeological study of Ladakh. In the course of my PhD I gathered about 15, 000 petroglyphs scattered over 100 rock sites. A comparative analysis of zoomorphic and anthropomorphic representations shows that during the Bronze and Iron Ages (2500-300 BC) Ladakh shared thematic and stylistic traits with the Central Asian steppes. Later on, at the beginning of the 1st millennium AD, several rock inscriptions in kharosthi and brahmi are
firm testimonies that Ladakh was under the influence of the Indian cultural expansion. Then, Tibetan rock inscriptions in Ladakh datable to the second half of the first millennium provide evidence for the
expansion of the Tibetan empire (7th-11th centuries) into the western regions. These inscriptions are frequently accompanied by engraved representations of Buddhist stūpa. The typological and comparative study of these enables us to better apprehend the introduction and diffusion of Buddhism into Ladakh. In summary my researches on the rock art of Ladakh allows for the first time to propose a secure cultural sequence of the region from Protohistory to the Medieval Period. It also demonstrates that the Himalayas have never been a barrier between Central Asia, the Indian subcontinent and the Tibetan plateau and that Ladakh always has been a cultural crossroad.

... Rock art research in Murgi Tokpo, Nubra valley in Ladakh. Laurianne Bruneau 1 , Quentin Devers 2 , Martin Vernier. (2011). ... oai:halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr:halshs-00747733. Contributeur :Laurianne Bruneau <>. Soumis le : Jeudi 1 Novembre 2012, 14:55:09. ...

Einführung

Das von Alain Bordier gegründete Tibet- Museum befindet sich im westschweizerischen Städtchen Gruyères, das für seinen mittelalterlichen Charakter berühmt ist. Das Tibet- Museum beherbergt eine wichtige Sammlung buddhistischer Skulpturen und Malereien sowie Ritualgegenständen. Alain Bordier hat diese Sammlung im Laufe von mehr als fünfundzwanzig Jahren mit grosser Umsicht gestaltet. Die Sammlung enthält etwa dreihundert Objekte, der grosse Teil davon tibetischen Ursprungs. Unter den Metallstatuen befinden sich aber auch Exemplare aus den an Tibet angrenzenden buddhistischen Kulturen. Darunter sind ausgesuchte Raritäten aus Nepal und weiteren Gegenden des Himalaya sowie solche aus Nordindien und Birma. Die ältesten Statuen im Tibet- Museum datieren aus dem 7. Jahrhundert und stammen aus den Gegenden Kaschmir und Swat, die im Nordwesten des indischen Subkontinents liegen. Die Kunst des nordostindischen Påla-Reiches und die davon beeinflusste buddhistische Kunsttradition von Birma (Myanmar) sind mit kleinformatigen Statuen aus Metall und Stein repräsentiert.
Die meisten Objekte im Tibet-Museum, auch diejenigen indischen und nepalesischen Ursprungs, befanden sich früher in der Obhut tibetischer Klöster, einige davon über mehr als tausend Jahren. Wie andere Sammlungen tibetischer Kunst wurde auch die von Alain Bordier im letzten Quartal des 20. Jahrhunderts zusammengestellt. Das Sammeln dieser Kunstwerke ermöglichten tibetische Flüchtlinge, die auf ihrer Flucht unzählige religiöse Objekte bei sich trugen. Der Grund für die Massenflucht dieser Menschen nach Nepal und Indien war die chinesische “Kulturrevolution”, die zwischen 1966 und 1969 stattfand. Damals wurden etwa dreitausend tibetische Klöster zerstört, wobei jedoch viele inzwischen wieder aufgebaut wurden. Trotz der Verluste infolge Zerstörung und Diebstahls haben viele religiöse Objekte überlebt. In der Obhut einiger grosser Klöster, die mehr oder weniger intakt blieben, befinden sich noch heute mehr als zweihunderttausend buddhistische Skulpturen und Malereien.
In den Jahren 1992 bis 2000 hat mich Alain Bordier auf sieben Forschungsreisen nach Tibet begleitet. Dabei haben wir unvergessliche Stunden in den Sammlungen des Potala-Palastes und des Jokhang-Tempels von Lhasa verbracht. Auch haben wir in Tibet zusammen noch viele andere Klöster besucht und deren Sammlungen studiert. Darunter waren Drepung, Drigung, Gyantse, Mindroling, Nor, Nethang, Reting, Sakya, Shalu, Sera, Thalung und Tandruk, um nur einige zu nennen. Es war mir eine Freude, Alain Bordier beim Aufbau seiner Sammlung als Ratgeber zur Seite zu stehen und ihm beim Erstellen einer Bibliothek und einer Dokumentation behilflich zu sein. Es ist wichtig zu erwähnen dass alle Objekte der Alain Bordier Foundation ausserhalb von Tibet erworben wurden.
Es ist mir ein Anliegen, mit dieser Publikation einen Einblick in die Welt der tibetischen Kultur zu ermöglichen, von der weltweit immer mehr Menschen fasziniert sind.

Mariahalden, Weesen, 2008                                                                                                                                       U. v. S.

Rob Linrothe. 2019. Review: Faith and Empire: Art and Politics in Tibetan Buddhism by Karl Debreczeny. Asian Highlands Perspectives 58:451-470.

The aims of the spectacular Faith and Empire exhibition at the Rubin Museum of Art and its admirable catalog are "to reground Tibetan Buddhist art in its historical and global context and highlight a dynamic aspect of the tradition related to power, one that may run counter to popular perceptions, yet one that is critical to understanding this tradition's importance on the world stage" (19). Tibetan Buddhist art serves as "both an active agent and primary medium of government propaganda." While "faith was a path to legitimation and a means to power . . . rituals were potential weapons of war and . . . art a conduit" (19). The catalog's essays and the exhibition on which it is based were designed as a corrective to "romanticized projections born from colonial encounters" that tend to separate Buddhism from politics when in fact they have often been inseparable and symbiotic, particularly in Tibet (19). The catalog features Tibetan Buddhism's catalytic role in Tibet and at the courts of the Tangut, Mongol-Yuan, Ming, and Manchu-Qing...

Vestiges of a prehistoric megalithic culture have been reported from Devidhura, near Almora in the Kumaon Himalaya, in 1856, and subsequently. We visited Devidhura in December 2019, to study the reported megalithic remains. We have found that several of the features attributed to a megalithic culture are erroneously identified. Rock art features such as petroglyphs and other carvings, previously attributed to this period, were found to be products of stone-working by the builders of a nearby temple to the goddess Ma Varahi Devi, and associated structures, which date to the 8th or 9th century CE. In this paper we critically examine earlier literature on the megalithic remains at Devidhura in the light of our observations and make a case that there is no evidence to suspect the existence, in the prehistoric past, of a megalithic culture at Devidhura. We call for a similar examination of the other centers of megalithic culture reported from Kumaon and Garhwal.

(Upload of full paper on open access platforms is prevented by copyright considerations. Please contact for a PDF of the full paper, if interested.)

Le Ladakh constitue la plus vaste, la plus élevée et la plus occidentale des régions naturelles de l’Himalaya. Bien que politiquement rattachée à l’état indien du Jammu et Cachemire, elle est géographiquement située aux confins de l’Asie Centrale, de la Chine, du Tibet et de l’Inde. Par conséquent nous pouvons présumer que cette situation privilégiée lui a conféré une importance historique majeure. Cependant, le Ladakh a fait l’objet de peu de recherches archéologiques : on compte seulement trois sondages. Le manque de données est aujourd’hui comblé par un matériel
abondant, varié et fiable : l’art rupestre. Véritables créations picturales ou simples graffiti, les pétroglyphes sont des marqueurs spatio-temporels immuables, qui ne peuvent mentir ni sur leur
provenance ni celle de leurs auteurs. De part leur quantité (on en connaît plusieurs milliers) et leur variété (ils illustrent des êtres  anthropomorphes, zoomorphes, des monuments et des signes), ils
recèlent des informations essentielles pour l’histoire du peuplement. Puisque les représentations rupestres couvrent une période s’étendant de la Préhistoire à l’époque moderne nous avons opéré un choix pour notre étude. Par une analyse comparative thématique et stylistique des images gravées nous sommes en mesure d’inscrire le Ladakh au sein du groupe des cultures des steppes à l’Âge du Bronze et à l’Âge du Fer ainsi que de l’identifier comme carrefour culturel pour la diffusion du  Bouddhisme au Ier millénaire de notre ère. Les axes de recherches retenus s’inscrivent dans la thématique des recherches archéologiques menées actuellement en Asie centrale.

Ladakh is the largest, highest and westernmost region of the Himalayas. Although it belongs to India’s state of Jammu and Kashmir, it is located at the crossroads of Central Asia, China, Tibet and India. We may assume that this unique location resulted into a major historical importance. However Ladakh’s history prior the 15th century is rather fragmentary and legendary. Very limited archaeological researches have been conducted in this Himalayan region. In the light of successful rock art projects lead in Central Asia and in the northern areas of Pakistan, petroglyphs appeared as the most promising and easily available material to carry out the first systematic archaeological study of Ladakh. In the course of my PhD I gathered about 15, 000 petroglyphs scattered over 100 rock sites. A comparative analysis of zoomorphic and anthropomorphic representations shows that during the Bronze and Iron Ages (2500-300 BC) Ladakh shared thematic and stylistic traits with the Central Asian steppes. Later on, at the beginning of the 1st millennium AD, several rock inscriptions in kharosthi and brahmi are
firm testimonies that Ladakh was under the influence of the Indian cultural expansion. Then, Tibetan rock inscriptions in Ladakh datable to the second half of the first millennium provide evidence for the
expansion of the Tibetan empire (7th-11th centuries) into the western regions. These inscriptions are frequently accompanied by engraved representations of Buddhist stūpa. The typological and comparative study of these enables us to better apprehend the introduction and diffusion of Buddhism into Ladakh. In summary my researches on the rock art of Ladakh allows for the first time to propose a secure cultural sequence of the region from Protohistory to the Medieval Period. It also demonstrates that the Himalayas have never been a barrier between Central Asia, the Indian subcontinent and the Tibetan plateau and that Ladakh always has been a cultural crossroad.

Heimbel, Jörg. 2021. “Portraits of the Great Abbots of Ngor: The Memorial or Death Anniversary Thangka (dus thang).” In Caumanns, Volker, Jörg Heimbel, Kazuo Kano and Alexander Schiller (eds.). Gateways to Tibetan Studies: A Collection of Essays in Honour of David P. Jackson on the Occasion of his 70th Birthday. 2 vols. Indian and Tibetan Studies 12.1–2. Hamburg: Department of Indian and Tibetan Studies, Universität Hamburg, pp. 301–379.

Collection of Buddhist Sculptures in the Jokhang Temple

Taking photographs of objects inside Tibetan monasteries is very difficult if not outright impossible. In most monasteries access is restricted as a result of security measures imposed to prevent theft. Therefore, to facilitate access for scholars to photographs of Buddhist sculptures in Tibet, a DVD is attached to each copy of the book 108 Buddhist Statues in Tibet. This DVD contains digital photographs of the 108 illustrated statues and of the 419 most important Buddhist sculptures in the collection of the Jo khang/Lhasa gTsug lag khang. Some 311 of these statues were 2001 published in Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet. The remaining 108 sculptures are illustrated in Jokhang – Tibet’s Most Sacred Temple, edited by Gyurme Dorje (Thames & Hudson, 2009). These 527 digital photographs can be downloaded free of charge by anyone, regardless whether for personal use or for publication. The photographs were taken by Ulrich von Schroeder during 14 expeditions to Tibet between 1980 and 1997. The Jokhang sculptures have not received the attention they deserve. For public domain documentation see http://jokhangsculpture.com/index.html