A full catalogue of the Ashmolean's collection of diverse works from the formative periods of Himalayan art, c. AD 700-1400 by Amy Heller (published Oxford, 2008).
The religious art form of the mandala (cosmic diagram) originated in India, the first homeland of Buddhism until around 1200. Over the last thousand years, the Tantric Buddhist practice of painting mandalas on cloth or on temple walls became highly developed within the remote monasteries of Tibet. This esoteric tradition gave rise to powerful symbolic images of great complexity and beauty, which in former days would have been seen only by a few initiated monks, as aids to meditation or the visualization of particular deities.
This very finely painted Tibetan mandala is dedicated to Guhyasamaja–Manjuvajra, an aspect of Akshobhya (the ‘Imperturbable’) Buddha. He presides at its centre, in close embrace with his prajna (wisdom goddess), representing the ‘Secret Union’ (Guhjyasamaja) of Wisdom and Compassion as the means to Enlightenment. The central couple is surrounded by four more Buddhas, governing the four cardinal points, who are flanked by wisdom goddesses occupying the intermediary directions. Further auspicious goddesses and protective deities are seen beyond this inner circle and in the further regions of the mandala, while eminent lamas and monks of the Sakyapa order preside in a long row above it.
This mandala may have been produced by Newar painters from the Kathmandu valley in Nepal, famous for the delicacy of their art, who are known to have produced related works for the Ngor monastery, south-west of Lhasa.
Heller, Amy, Early Himalayan Art (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 2008), no. 61 on pp. 167-168, p. 35, illus. p. 169
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