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Surrounding the Sacred Space: Two Painted Scrolls from the Collection of Namgyal Monastery in Mustang, Nepal

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 June 2020

CHIARA BELLINI
CHIARA BELLINI*
Affiliation:
Northumbria Universitychiara.bellini@northumbria.ac.uk
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Abstract

The Collection of Namgyal Monastery (Mustang, Nepal) preserves two long and narrow scrolls painted on both sides, of exquisite artistic quality. This article describes and investigates the iconographic and symbolic meaning of the paintings and the use of these objects. One of the scrolls shows the Eight Auspicious Symbols and deities that personify diverse group of offerings painted in an elegant Newari style. The other scroll features an intriguing representation of the Eight Charnel Grounds in a continuous landscape. Full of delicate and charming details, it illustrates the Mahasiddhas, Guardians, Nāgas and stupa of the respective directions. The back of both scrolls has a vajra chain at the bottom and flames represented above it. The scrolls must have been used to encircle specific mandalas. Such objects are rather rare, and it is interesting to reflect on their former use, even more so as no contemporaneous objects of that type are known. The stylistic features of the paintings reveal the broader relationships of the Mustang region to neighbouring areas. Relationships can also be established to objects preserved in the same collection, such as a collection of metal stupa of similar design and typical for the Mustang region and the western Himalayas.

Keywords

Namgyal MonasteryOffering DeitiesEight Charnel GroundsPainted ScrollsBuddhist ArtMustang Art
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society , Volume 30 , Issue 4 , October 2020 , pp. 635 - 678
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal Asiatic Society 2020

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Footnotes

‡

The original version of this article was published with incorrect figures. A notice detailing this has been published and the errors rectified in the online and print PDF and HTML copies.

References

1 This article is a result of the AHRC Project Tibetan Buddhist Monastery Collections Today led by Christian Luczanits at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. It would not have been possible without the generous permission of Namgyal Monastery to document and study their collection. The two scrolls examined here were brought to our attention by a monk from Namgyal during the documentation project in summer 2016. The photographs were taken by Jaroslav Poncar, who generously joined the project that year, and Christian Luczanits. Moreover, I would like to thank Christian Luczanits for his invaluable suggestions.

2 Heimbel, Jörg, Vajradhara in Human Form. The Life and Times of Ngor chen Kun dga’ bzang po (Lumbini, 2017), p. 248Google Scholar.

3 Ibid., p. 291.

4 Jackson, David P., The Mollas of Mustang: Historical, Religious and Oratorical Traditions of the Nepalese-Tibetan Borderland (Dharamsala, 1984), p. 42 n.6Google Scholar.

5 Vitali, Roberto, A short History of Mustang (10th-15th) (Dharamsala, 2012), p. 141Google Scholar.

6 Ibid., p. 170.

7 The diameter of the Offerings Scroll is 219.6 cm, while that of the Charnel Grounds is 267.4 cm.

8 Baader, Joachim, ‘Dipinto che rappresenta le divinità delle offerte, destinato ad un màndala tridimensionale’, in Tibet. Arte e spiritualità. Un contributo alla storia dell'uomo, (ed.) Deotto, Sonia Bazzeato (Milan, 1999), pp. 188–191Google Scholar.

9 This scroll is documented on a series of DVDs assembled by Lionel Fournier (DVD-34 Nepal Dolpo 1/ Dolpo Eric Valli/ Border Painting/ Photos 1–47). In 2005, a certain ‘AL’ took a photograph in which similar painted scrolls were used as the sides of an offering of the universe mandala (DVD-34 Nepal Dolpo 1/ Dolpo AL 2005/12 Yangtser/Photo AL1007Yangster G kapalas).

10 Himalayan Art Resources, object number 792, http://www.himalayanart.org/items/792 (accessed 31 May 2019).

11 Huntington, John C. and Bangdel, Dina, The Circle of Bliss: Buddhist Meditational Art (Chicago, 2003), pp. 392–393Google Scholar.

12 See, for example, Himalayan Art Resources, https://www.himalayanart.org/search/set.cfm?setID=1442 (accessed 31 May 2019).

13 Also called Vādyā.

14 See Bentor, Yael, Consecration of Images & Stūpas in Indo-Tibetan Tantric Buddhism (Leiden, 1996), pp. 145, 154, 192Google Scholar. Reproduced with permission from the author under the THL Digital Text License: http://www.thlib.org/encyclopedias/literary/genres/genres-book.php#!book=/studies-in-genres/b17/all/ (accessed 31 May 2019); Chandra, Lokesh, Dictionary of Buddhist Iconography, vol. 4 (Delhi, 2002), p. 1077Google Scholar; Tucci, Giuseppe, Indo-Tibetica III.2, I templi del Tibet Occidentale e il loro simbolismo artistico (Milano, 1935 [2017]), p. 55Google Scholar. The names and order of these deities can be read with different variations according to the mandala type or ritual practice, as can be read in the Niṣpannayogāvalī (rdzogs pa'i rnal ’byor gyi phreng ba zhes bya ba or rnal ’byor rdzogs phreng) (Chandra, Lokesh and Sharma, Nirmala (eds.), Niṣpanna-yogāvalī [Delhi, 2015]Google Scholar), as well as in the Vajrāvalī (Mori, Masahide, The Vajravali of Abhayakaragupta: a critical study, Sanskrit edition of selected chapters and complete Tibetan versions [Tring, 2009 (1962)], p. 466Google Scholar), both written by the twelfth-century scholar Abhayakaragupta. Both the teachings in these texts were transmitted by Ngorchen, along with the Jyiotimañjarī (sbyin sreg gi cho ga ’od kyi snye ma zhes bya ba or sbyin sreg ’od kyi snye ma), in the Tibetan version that brought all three texts together with the name ’phreng ba skor gsum, the “Garland Trio” (Heimbel, Vajradhara in Human Form, pp. 193–194).

15 Chandra, Lokesh, Dictionary of Buddhist Iconography, vol. 11 (Delhi, 2004), p. 3322Google Scholar.

16 Chandra and Sharma (eds.), Niṣpanna-yogāvalī, p. 46.

17 In some versions she could also be red.

18 In the previous set she is yellow.

19 The renowned Buddhist master Abhayākaragupta had a profound influence over the Buddhist thought in Tibet. He was active in the Mahāvihara of Vikramaśīla, in present-day Bihar, but his remarkable influence had a deep-reaching impact on the development of Tibetan Buddhism over the twelfth-fourteenth centuries. His works, particularly the Munimatālamkāra, ‘The Ornament of the Sage's Intention’, were of inspiration for Sakya Pandita's major work, Thub pa'i dgongs pa rab tu gsal ba, the ‘Clarification of Sage's Intention’. See Kapstein, Matthew, Abhayākaragupta on the Two Truths, in Reason's Traces. Identity and Interpretation in Indian & Tibetan Buddhist Thought (Boston, 2001) p. 394Google Scholar.

20 Chandra and Sharma (eds.), Niṣpanna-yogāvalī, pp. 46–47.

21 “To make increase the enlightened activity (karma) [with] the torma offering liturgy to the spirits”; see Kun dga' bzang po, “'byung po'i gtor chog phrin las rgyas byed”, in gsung 'bum/_kun dga' bzang po. TBRC W11577. 2: 529–72 (Dehradun, 199?), http://tbrc.org/link?RID=O01DG005|O01DG005d1e1417$W11577 (accessed 31 May 2019).

22 Also see kun dga' bzang po. gsung ‘bum/_kun dga’ bzang po. TBRC W11577. 4 vols (Dehradun, 199?) http://tbrc.org/link?RID=W11577; (https://www.tbrc.org/#!rid=W11577 (accessed 31 May 2019).

23 These Sixteen Goddesses are also known as the Sixteen Vidyas (rig ma bcu drug) of the Saṃvara mandala (Chandra, Dictionary of Buddhist Iconography, vol. 11, pp. 3322–3323).

24 Czaja, Olaf and Proser, Adriana, Golden Vision of Densatil. A Tibetan Buddhist Monastery (New York, 2014), p. 114Google Scholar.

25 See https://www.mfa.org/collections/object/a-mandala-of-samvara-22299 (accessed 31 May 2019).

26 Czaja and Proser, Golden Vision, pp. 116–117.

27 Note also that the stupas of Densatil were conceived as mandalas. Czaja, Olaf, ‘The Commemorative Stupas at Densathil a Preliminary Study’, in Tibetan Art and Architecture in Context. PIATS 2006: Tibetan Studies: Proceedings of the Eleventh Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies, Königswinter 2006, (eds.) Bue, E. Lo and Luczanits, C. (Leiden and Boston, 2010), p. 212Google Scholar.

28 With regard to the Cakravartin Emblems or Seven Treasures, Buddhaguhya's Dharmamaṇḍala-sutra describes the symbols in the following way: “the precious wheel of consecration, a goddess as one's precious queen, a guardian as the general with the nine modes of expression; the minister is said to be the supernatural accomplishments, the precious elephant the ten powers and the magical powers in the form of a horse, and the jewel is the wish-granting gem (cintamani)”. See Bue, Erberto Lo, ‘The Dharmamandala sutra by Buddhaguhya’, in Orientalia Iosephi Tucci memoriae dicata/edenda curaverunt Gherardo Gnoli et Lionello Lanciotti, (ed.) Gnoli, G. (Rome, 1985), p. 805Google Scholar. As for the Eight Auspicious symbols, the text explains: “the eight items are these: the banner of victory to overcome Mara, the (parasol of) compassionate mind, the intention of the sacred knot, the jar of ambrosia, the fish of humility, the conch-shell of the Dharma, (the lotus flower) which fulfils all desires, and the wheel of the Doctrine” (Lo Bue, ‘The Dharmamandala sutra by Buddhaguhya’, p. 805).

29 Czaja and Proser, Golden Vision, p. 119.

30 Beer, Robert, Encyclopedia of Tibetan Symbols and Motifs (Boston, 1999), p. 194Google Scholar.

31 Jackson, David P., The Nepalese Legacy in Tibetan Painting (New York, 2010), pp. 153–154, see also p. 94Google Scholar.

32 Luczanits, Christian, ‘The Eight Great Siddhas in Early Tibetan Painting’, in Holy Madness. Portraits of Tantric Siddhas, (ed.) Linrothe, R. (New York, 2006), p. 78Google Scholar; Brauen, Martin, Mandala, Sacred Circle in Tibetan Buddhism (Stuttgart and New York, 2009). p. 230Google Scholar.

33 Tucci, Indo-Tibetica, III/2, pp. 50–51.

34 This text was found in China and translated into French by Finot. See Finot, Louise, ‘Manuscrits sanscrits de Sādhana's retrouvés en Chine’, Journal Asiatique II (Juillet-Septembre 1934), p. 49Google Scholar and sub.—although with some misunderstanding in the interpretation of the Charnel Ground names—and into German by Meisezahl, Richard Othon in Geist und Ikonographie des Vajrayāna-Buddhismus (Sankt Augustin, 1980), p. 39 v. 28Google Scholar.

35 Tucci, Indo-Tibetica, III/2, p. 173.

36 This list is a combination of common information itemized in three sources, from Lūipa's text and two short texts from the bstan ’gyur; see Tucci, Indo-Tibetica, III/2, pp. 175–179.

37 The Kṣetrapālas inhabit the trees represented behind the Dikpālas and they assume the same appearance as the creatures ridden by gods (Chandra, Dictionary, vol. 4, p. 1088; Tucci, Indo-Tibetica, III/2, p. 37).

38 The lists of these creatures, natural elements and symbols are described in the few sources available, translated and collected by Tucci (See Tucci, Indo-Tibetica, III/2, pp. 50–54, 175–181).

39 Ibid., pp. 175–179.

40 Snellgrove, David, The Hevajra Tantra: A Critical Study (London, 1959), p. 126Google Scholar.

41 Linrothe, Rob, Holy Madness. Portraits of Tantric Siddhas (New York, 2006), p. 190Google Scholar.

42 Linrothe, Rob, ‘Lords Within a Lotus: an Eastern Indian Hevajra Mandala’, Orientations 35, 3 (April 2004), p. 45Google Scholar.

43 Ibid., p. 46.

44 Luczanits, Christian, ‘The Depiction of Hindu Pan-Indian Deities in the Lo tsa ba lHa khang at Nako’, in South Asian Archaeology 1999. Proceedings of the Fifteenth International Conference of the European Association of South Asian Archaeologists held at the Universiteit Leiden, 5–9 July, 1999, (ed.) Raven, Ellen M. (Groningen, 2008), p. 494Google Scholar.

45 Linrothe, Holy Madness, p. 190.

46 Elena Pakhoutova, Reproducing the Sacred Places: the Eight Great Events of the Buddha's Life and their Commemorative Stupas in the Medieval Art of Tibet (10th -13th century) (unpublished PhD dissertation, Virginia University, 2009), p. 26.

47 Not only Dragpa Gyaltsen was interested in the canonisation of the Eight Stupas but also Butön Rinchen Drup (bu ston rin chen grub, 1290–1364); see Pakhoutova, Reproducing the Sacred Places, p. 27; Bu-ston-rin-chen-grub, ‘Byang Chub Chen Po'i Mchod Rten Gyi Tsad: Measurements for the Stupa of Great Enlightenment’, in The Collected Works of Bu-Ston (New Delhi, 1965), vol. 14, pp. 551–558Google Scholar.

48 Tucci, Indo-Tibetica, III/2, p. 50.

49 According to the traditional position of the Charnel Grounds in the Mandalas, the western Charnel Ground, in which is depicted the Mahāsiddha Virūpa, is always represented at the top of Mandalas. See Luczanits. ‘The Eight Great Siddhas’, p. 89; Luczanits, Christian, ‘On the Earliest Mandalas in a Buddhist Context’, in Mahayana Buddhism. History and Culture, (eds.) Bryant, D. and Bryant, S. (New Delhi, 2008), p. 121Google Scholar. As a result, the North is on the right of the observer, and the south is on the left. This structure was developed by the Sakyapa to become, over the centuries, a common canonical setting. In a previous variation, elaborated by Drigungpa, Padmavajra appeared instead of Virūpa (Luczanits, ‘On the Earliest Mandalas’, p. 121).

50 Linrothe, Holy Madness, pp. 55, 181, 197, 247, 354.

51 Jackson, David P., A Revolutionary Artist of Tibet. Khyentse Chenmo of Gongkar (New York, 2016), p. 121Google Scholar.

52 All the Nāgas names are listed in Tucci, Indo-Tibetica, III/2, pp. 175–179.

53 Beer, Encyclopedia, p. 133.

54 In the Hindu Tradition, the Vetāla is a sort of spirit that incarnates the dead body in the charnel ground. Some translate the name of this kind of creature as ‘zombie’, which is not totally correct but conveys a sense of the kind of spirit.

55 Beer, Encyclopedia, p. 135.

56 Linrothe, Lords Within a Lotus, p. 40.

57 Some of the details represented in this scene are part of the funeral customs in Mustang; see Rambles, C., ‘Status and Death: Mortuary Rites and Attitudes to the Body in a Tibetan Village’, Kailash 9, 4 (1982), pp. 333–359Google Scholar.

58 Gutschow, Niels, The Nepalese Caitya. 1500 Years of Buddhist Votive Architecture in the Kathmandu Valley (London, 1997), pp. 77, 79Google Scholar.

59 Regarding the shape of the Namgyal Scroll Stupas, some similarities are also to be seen between the fifteenth-century Mustang stupas and a set of Eight Stupas painted in the Red Temple (dmar po lha khang) at Tsaparang (rtsa ’rang) in the fifteenth century. See Tucci, Indo-Tibetica, III/2 pl. CXXXV-CXXXVI; Aschoff, Jürgen C., Tsaparang – Königsstadt in Westtibet (Ulm, 1997), p. 148Google Scholar. According to Tucci (Indo-Tibetica, III/2, p. 150), the sequence of the stupas represented in Tsaparang reflects the arrangement described in the literary sources that he examined. Unfortunately, in terms of orientation and placing, the Tsaparang stupas do not help our interpretation, in no way reflecting that of the Namgyal Scroll.

60 For more detailed information about the book as a sacred object and a work of art, see Diemberger, H., Ehrhard, F-K. and Kornicki, P. (eds.), Tibetan Printing: Comparisons, Continuities and Change (Leiden-Boston, 2016)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Grönbold, G., ‘Glegs shing, the Art of Tibetan Book Covers’, The Tibet Journal XXVII, 3&4 (Autumn & Winter 2002), pp. 171–181Google Scholar; Helman-Ważny, A., Archaeology of Tibetan Books (Leiden-Boston, 2014)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

61 Tucci, Indo-Tibetica, III/2, pp. 52, 175–179.

62 See https://www.himalayanart.org/items/65554 (accessed 31 May 2019).

63 See VV, AA., Collection Highlights: The Rubin Museum of Art (New York, 2014), p. 233Google Scholar.

64 Ibid., pp. 48–49.

65 Jackson, A Revolutionary Artist of Tibet, p. 83.

66 Ibid., p. 101, Fig. 432.

67 Ibid., pp. 100–101.

68 Ibid., pp. 70–71, figs. 3.6, 3.8, 3.9.

69 The common Charnel Grounds depictions visible in the mandalas are only rarely complete representations, with all the elements precisely identifiable, like that of the Charnel Ground Scroll. In very few cases can we identify every single Mahāsiddha of the group of eight; in some cases we may recognise the Dikpāla, or perhaps the types of stupas (the Eight Stupas are not generally identifiable one by one). But it is indeed uncommon to find a complete composition in which every figure in the different groups is so easily recognisable. What is unusual in this representation is that, despite its precise description, the Dikpāla occupied the right position in terms of cardinal directions but their pairing with the Mahāsiddha is indeed uncommon. Also, the Mahāsiddhas themselves are not the ‘canonical’ group of eight. The only couples that perfectly match all or the majority of the Hevajra Mandala Depictions are, for example, Virūpa with Varuna, in the Western Cemetery, and Ḍombi Heruka with Agni, in the South-Eastern Cemetery. None of the other couples on the Scroll matches with those represented in other mandala examples.