The deities of the Buddhist pantheon are adorned with different types of bone and other ornaments that are significant to their wrathfulness. However, all these ornaments come in set with their symbolic meanings. A standard set of ornaments are worn by the deities that are both peaceful and wrathful. For the wrathful deities, eight [...]
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16th Karmapa & Ashi Wangmo
In 1959, foreseeing the communist Chinese invasion of Tibet, and the inevitable destruction of Buddhist institutions in Tibet, the Karmapa informed the Dalai Lama of his intention to leave his homeland in the spring of 1959. The Sixteenth Karmapa, accompanied by a large entourage, left Tsurphu, and fled Tibet. The timing and organization of the [...]
Ashi Wangmo- A Buddhist Poet of Bhutanese Royal Family
Her Royal Highness Ashi Kencho Choni Wangmo, most popularly known as Ashi Wangmo, was born to His Majesty the First King Gongsar Ugyen Wangchuk and Her Royal Highness Ashi Tsundru Lhamo (also called Ashi Lemo) in the year of earth female bird of Bhutanese calendar, 1909 at Lami Goenpa’s Kuenzang Choeling. The First King remarried [...]
རྡོ་རྗེ་ཕུར་པ། Understanding Vajrakīla
The cycle of Vajrakīla deities come with Palchen Dorje Zhonu (Vajrakumāra) as the central figure with four or five sons depending on the traditions. The sons are mostly depicted with their lower part as kīla nailing down the evil forces. There are then the ten wrathful emanations with a executioners (gsod byed) and a Devourers [...]
Use of the Thangkas in a Ritual Space
Thangka is a Himalayan Buddhist scroll painting on cotton normally depicting deities, teachers, mandalas, and so on. It is decorated with silk with neatly stitched strips at the four sides called Juru Merser and a rectangular piece at the bottom of the image called Thong. The significance of Juru Merser and Thong is not known. [...]
