Karma Amitayus, From a Mandala of the Ninefold Amitayus

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Karma Amitayus, From a Mandala of the Ninefold Amitayus

Central Tibet, Phanyul Valley (?), circa 1170-1189
Paintings
Mineral pigments and gold on cotton cloth
102 x 69 in. (259.08 x 175.26 cm)
From the Nasli and Alice Heeramaneck Collection, Museum Associates Purchase (M.84.32.5)
Not currently on public view

Curator Notes

In twelfth-century Tibet a flourishing Buddhist religious life was dominated by theistic and faith-centered Tantric observance....
In twelfth-century Tibet a flourishing Buddhist religious life was dominated by theistic and faith-centered Tantric observance. It focused on salvation through codified recital of mantras, ritual dances and gestures, and special meditation. Strict codes also determined color, size, proportion, and formal details of the painted and sculpted images employed at temples and shrines to aid worship. This thanka (religious painting), one of the oldest and largest preserved outside Tibet, bears an inscription acknowledging its unusual size and stating that it was made for the lama Chokyi Gyaltsen (1112-89) for the life-attainment ceremony honoring the fulfillment of his monk's vows. The canonically prescribed colors of some of the painting's figures may have changed or been altered over time. The large central tathagata (manifestation of Buddha) sits on a lotus throne and holds a flower-filled vase. Through his attributes, gestures, and link with the lama's ceremony, scholars identify him as Amitayus, tathagata of endless life, although a green complexion usually indicates a Buddha of healing. He is flanked by two bodhisattvas (enlightened saintly beings), who stand swaying on smaller lotuses. The white one is Avalokitesvara, patron of Tibet, and the brown one, if originally red or golden, would be Maitreya, the future Buddha. Four bodhisattvas and an apotheosized monk appear on each side of the tathagata's head. Beneath his throne are three placid bodhisattvas: Avalokitesvara, Manjusri, and Vajrapani; they are flanked by two fierce protectors: Hayagriva and Acala. The work is a visualization as well as a mystical evocation of deities and saints.
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Bibliography

  • Singer, Jane Casey. "Early Thankas: Eleventh - Thirteenth Centuries." Marg 48, no. 1 (1996): 16-31.

  • Rosenfield, John.  The Arts of India and Nepal: The Nasli and Alice Heeramaneck Collection.  Boston:  Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1966.
  • Singer, Jane Casey. "Early Thankas: Eleventh - Thirteenth Centuries." Marg 48, no. 1 (1996): 16-31.

  • Rosenfield, John.  The Arts of India and Nepal: The Nasli and Alice Heeramaneck Collection.  Boston:  Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1966.
  • Pal, Pratapaditya.  The Art of Tibet.  New York:  The Asia Society, Inc., 1969.
  • Donahue, Kenneth.  X, a Decade of Collecting:  1965-1975.  Los Angeles:  Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1975.
  • Beguin, Gilles. Dieux et Demons de l'Himalaya: Art du Bouddhisme Lamaique.  Paris: Grand Palais, 1977.
  • Donahue, Kenneth. Los Angeles County Museum of Art Handbook. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1977.
  • Pal, Pratapaditya.  Art of Tibet.  Los Angeles; Berkeley, CA:  Los Angeles County Museum of Art; University of California Press, 1983.
  • Pal, Pratapaditya; Dehejia, Vidya; Slusser, Mary Shepherd; Fisher, Robert E.; Brown, Robert L. Arts of Asia 15 (6): 68-125 (November- December 1985).
  • Price, Lorna.  Masterpieces from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.  Los Angeles:  Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1988.
  • Pal, Pratapaditya. Art of Tibet. Expanded edition. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1990.
  • Gilbert, Rita.  Living with Art.  New York:  McGraw-Hill Companies, 2001.
  • Los Angeles County Museum of Art.  New York: Thames and Hudson, 2003.
  • Pal, Pratapaditya. In Pursuit of the Past: Collecting Old Art in Modern India, circa 1875-1950. Mumbai: Marg Foundation, 2015.
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