Green Tara (Syamatara)

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GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Tibetan bronze images of Buddhist dei­ties and stupas are cast hollow so that the required scrolls of mantras and prayers can be inserted together with sacred sub­stances and relics. Once this is done, the bottom is sealed by a copper plate marked with a double vajra symbolizing the im­mutable state of enlightenment. Bronze images are gilded with pure gold and orna­mented with jewels such as the turquoise insets seen here.

Bodhisattvas

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GENERAL DESCRIPTION
In Theravada ("Doctrine of the Elders") Buddhism, the historical Buddha is central; however, in traditions associated with Mahayana ("Great Vehicle") Buddhism and Vajrayana ("Thunderbolt vehicle") Buddhism, he is accompanied by other buddhas and bodhisattvas. These include buddhas who preceded Shakyamuni and, in theory, are infinite in number.

Shakyamuni Buddha (The historical Buddha)

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GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The Buddha was probably born c. 553 BCE (though dates range from c. 624 to c. 486 BCE), with the given name Siddhartha. His clan name was Gautama, and he was a member of the Shakya tribe, and thus later in life known as Shakyamuni, the sage of the Shakyas. His father was the tribal chief of the Shakyas and ruled the modern border of India and Nepal.

There is little factual documentation on the life of the Buddha.

Mudras

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GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Mudras are specific hand gestures characteristic of buddhas and bodhisattvas that symbolize various meanings. They appear in Buddhist and Hindu images and are also practiced during meditation.

The historical Buddha’s various mudras can refer to specific times in his life, activities, or characteristics.

Vajrabhairava

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GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The Vajrabhairava Tantra is attributed to Shakyamuni Buddha (6th century BCE). It is part of his transmission of the Tantras, which are complex esoteric teachings meant for the rare disciples capable of understanding and practicing them.

Tibetan Buddhism

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GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Buddhism came to the Himalayas in the 6th century from India and Kashmir. In Tibet, Buddhism was established as the official religion of the land during the reign of King Songtsen Gyampo (r. 618–650). Early Buddhist teachers such as the revered Padmasambhava were accepted in part because Buddhist ideas could be associated with Bon, the indigenous shamanic religion.

Dharmapalas

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GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Dharmapalas, or Great Protectors, were originally hostile or demonic deities of Tibet’s indigenous Bon religion. According to the Bon tradition, these deities were the primary cause of hardship and suffering in life. In the 9th century, Padmasambava, the “Lotus Born," a Buddhist sage and Tantric master, confronted and tamed the local Bon deities, convincing them to swear allegiance to the developing Buddhist religion.

Lhamo

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GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Lhamo is the city goddess of Lhasa and the principal protector of the Gelukpa sect of Varayhana Buddhism and the Dalai Lamas of Tibet. She is the Buddhist manifestation of the Hindu Death goddess Kali who embodies destruction. Like Kali, Lhamo brings death and destruction to opponents of the Buddhist law or Dharma.

Lhamo is the only female of the eight Dharmapalas and the most extreme in appearance.

Thangka

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GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Thangkas are portable Tibetan religious paintings, which may be unrolled and displayed in monasteries or other religious contexts. They are painted in gouache on cotton backgrounds, with colors generally filling in patterns from stenciled underdrawings.
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