Nepalese Art

Membership in Newar Buddhist monasteries includes individuals from the Vajrācārya and Śākya castes who serve as Tantric Buddhist householder monks. Of this population, the ten eldest members of each monastery are known as the Daśa Sthavira Ājus (Ten Elders of the Highest Esteem). Because of their position, these Ājus are the ritual specialists for their communities and serve as exemplars of the monastic ideal in Newar society. This paper explores the ways in which Newar Buddhists at the Kwā Bahā monastic complex in Patan, Nepal, utilize ceremonial dress to reinforce their Buddhist identity and publicly reaffirm their ancient Buddhist heritage in Nepal. This study, the first to analyze the Ājus’ ceremonial regalia, provides an analysis of the garments, headdresses, and ornaments worn by these figures to explain the ways in which dress embeds Buddhist iconographic symbolism into Newar visual culture. Additionally, this paper demonstrates that the ritual veneration of the Ājus gives their regalia agency, reinforcing their public, ritual role as living embodiments of buddhahood. [PDF of article available in link]

Introduction
Le Musée tibétain fondé par Alain Bordier se trouve dans la petite ville romande de Gruyères réputée pour son caractère médiéval. Il abrite une importante collection de sculptures, peintures et objets rituels bouddhistes réunis avec soin pendant près de 25 ans. Cette collection comporte près de 300 objets, dont la plupart sont originaires du Tibet. Certaines sculptures en métal, parmi lesquelles se trouvent des oeuvres rares, proviennent néanmoins aussi de régions bouddhistes voisines, le Népal, les contreforts de l’Himalaya ainsi que le Nord de l’Inde et la Birmanie. Les images les plus anciennes du Musée tibétain datent du VIIe siècle et viennent des régions du Cachemire et du Swat, dans le Nord-Ouest de la Péninsule indienne. En outre, quelques images fondues ou sculptées de plus petites dimensions furent produites dans le royaume Påla du Nord-Est de l’Inde ou illustrent la tradition artistique birmane (Myanmar) fortement influencée par cette école du Nord-Est. La plupart de ces objets, même ceux d’origine indienne et népalaise, trouvèrent dans les monastères tibétains un abri où certains demeurèrent pendant plus de mille ans. La collection d’Alain Bordier s’est constituée durant le dernier quart du XXe siècle, comme maintes autres qui purent toutes se développer grâce aux réfugiés tibétains. Ces derniers, chassés entre 1966 et 1969 par la Révolution Culturelle chinoise, trouvèrent refuge au Népal et en Inde où ils apportèrent d’innombrables objets religieux. Près de trois mille monastères tibétains furent détruits à l’époque, nombre d’entre eux purent néanmoins êtres reconstruits depuis. Malgré des pertes considérables dues aux pillages et aux destructions, beaucoup d’objets religieux survécurent heureusement intacts.  Dans plusieurs grands monastères qui sont demeurés pratiquement saufs, plus de deux cent mille sculptures et peintures bouddhiques purent ainsi être préservées jusqu’à nos jours.
Alain Bordier m’a accompagné à sept reprises dans des voyages d’études au Tibet, entre 1992 et 2000. Nous avons passé des heures inoubliables à admirer les collections du Palais du Potala et du temple Jokhang à Lhassa, le lieu le plus sacré du Tibet. Nous avons visité et étudié les oeuvres d’art de nombreux autres monastères, dont Drepung, Drigung, Gyantse, Mindroling, Nor, Nethang, Reting, Sakya, Shalu, Sera, Thalung, et Tandruk, pour n’en citer que quelques-uns. Cela fut toujours pour moi un réel plaisir que de le conseiller dans le choix des objets de sa collection, et de l’aider à se constituer une bibliothèque et à documenter sa collection.
Puisse cette publication constituer une ouverture vers l’univers de la culture tibétaine dont la fascination s’exerce de plus en plus forte dans le monde entier.

Mariahalden, Weesen, 2008                                                                                                                                                                   U.v.S.

This is a 3 Credit Certificate Course offered by Sikkim Central University, conducted at Namgyal Institute of Tibetology, Gangtok, Sikkim, India. This course is designed to give exposure the students to analyze a wide range of artistic creations of Himalayan region of India, Nepal and Tibet by illustrating the influence and integration of scholastic traditions of Buddhism. A part of the course is to study the salient features of Buddhist philosophy and its impact on Himalayan art and culture; the Buddhist ritual practices and their interconnection with visual and performing arts and, the influence of tantric mandala on the development of Buddhist architecture. The course also points to the significance of the conservation of Himalayan Buddhist heritage.

The Kukri knife, also written as Khukuri, Khukri, Khookree, Kookeri, Kukoori, Koorkerie, Kookery, Kukery, Koukoori, Khokreis, Cookri, Gurkha Knife and other variations, takes its name from the Nepali word "खुकुरी" . This dagger-knife is today world famous and known as the Symbol of the Gurkhas, National weapon of Nepal and a most excellent knife with a long and ancient history. Ive used the term "Kukri" over the more proper "Khukuri" as it is
probably a wider used word and thus more familiar to the reader. We here explore what has been written regarding the Kukri knife over the past 200 years, from the dawn of modern Nepal, Anglo-Nepal War, The Great Wars and until modern day.

Introduction
The Tibet Museum founded by Alain Bordier is located in the small Swiss town of Gruyères, famous for its medieval character. The Tibet Museum houses an important collection of Buddhist sculptures and paintings in addition to ritual objects. Alain Bordier established this collection with great care over a period of more than twenty-five years. It consists of about three hundred objects, mainly originating from Tibet. However, among the statues are a number of objects that were manufactured in the ancient Buddhist cultures surrounding Tibet: there are rare Buddhist sculptures from the kingdom of Nepal and other Himalayan regions, in addition to examples from Northern India and Burma (Myanmar). The oldest Buddhist statues in the Tibet Museum date from the 7th century and originate from North-Western India, in particular the greater Swat and Kashmir regions. The art of the Påla Empire of North-Eastern India and its influence on the tradition of Buddhist art in Burma is documented by mostly small-sized brass and stone sculptures.
The majority of the objects in the Tibet Museum, also those of Indian and Nepalese provenance, were originally retained in Tibetan monasteries, sometimes for more than a thousand years. Like other collections of Tibetan art, Alain Bordier established his collection during the last quarter of the 20th century when Tibetan refugees brought great numbers of religious objects with them into exile in India and Nepal. The reason behind this enormous exodus of Tibetans to Nepal and India was the Chinese occupation of Tibet in 1959 followed by the “cultural revolution” between 1966 and 1969. During that period about three thousand Tibetan monasteries were destroyed resulting in an enormous loss through destruction and theft. A few large monasteries survived these times almost intact. In their custody are still more than two hundred thousand Buddhist sculptures and paintings.  Many of the destroyed monasteries have since been rebuilt.
Between 1992 and 2000 Alain Bordier accompanied me on seven expeditions to Tibet. On our travels we spent many unforgettable hours studying the collections of the Potala Palace and the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa. We visited a number of other monasteries and studied jointly their collections, such as those at Drepung, Drigung, Gyantse, Mindroling, Nor, Nethang, Reting, Sakya, Shalu, Sera, Thalung, and Tandruk. It was my pleasure to assist Alain Bordier in establishing his collection, documentation, and library.
It is my wish to present with this publication an introduction into the world of Tibetan culture that fascinates a growing number of people all over the world.

Mariahalden, Weesen, 2008                                                                                                                                 U.v.S.

Introduction
The purpose of this book is to give the reader an insight into the development of Tibetan Buddhist sculptures illustrated with statues selected from the collection of the Alain Bordier Foundation. These sculptures, mostly hereto unpublished, represent only a small part of this important collection, carefully assembled during the last twenty-five years. The Buddhist art collection of the Alain Bordier Foundation comprises about three hundred sculptures and paintings. The majority of the sculptures were manufactured in Tibet. On the other hand, the collection also comprises statues that had been manufactured in the Buddhist cultures surrounding Tibet – especially those located in the Himalayas, including Nepal, and those in North-Western and North-Eastern India, Burma, and to a lesser extent Central Asia and China. These cultures all influenced the development of Tibetan Buddhist art styles at various times and to various degrees. To understand the evolution of Tibetan art styles, consideration must be given to the art of all the cultures surrounding Tibet.
At the time of the introduction of Buddhism in Tibet during the 7th century, there were no trained Tibetan artists who could manufacture the statues and paintings needed for Buddhist practice. This vacuum led to the importation of foreign artists, as well as craftsmen with the skills needed for constructing temples and monasteries. In addition to the Newårs of Nepal there were also artists from other countries active in Tibet, especially from North-Eastern India and Kashmir. Each of these foreign artists practiced their crafts according to the styles in which they had been trained in their homeland. Predictably, the Tibetan novices imitated the particular styles practiced by their teachers. Ultimately, this resulted in the development of different Tibetan art styles that were an amalgam of the various foreign influences modified according to Tibetan sentiments. The art styles in Western Tibet initially depended primarily on inspiration from the neighbouring Buddhist traditions flourishing in the greater areas of Himachal Pradesh, Kashmir, and Swat (U∂∂iyåna) in North-Western India. Southern and Central Tibet (gTsang and dBus), were more under the artistic influence of the North-Eastern Indian art traditions in addition to the influence from Nepal. Eastern Tibet (Khams), next to the Chinese province of Sichuan, and North-Eastern Tibet (Amdo), bordering the Chinese province of Gansu, nevertheless developed art styles similar in many aspects to those prevalent in Southern and Central Tibet. Chinese influence is more visible in the painting traditions of Eastern Tibet than in its sculptures.

The Collection highlights briefly the history of the Kukri knife and the Gurkhas, Nepalese and British-Indian History over the last 200 years.
Items are not for sale but part of the permanent collection of SirKukri and Gurkha Antiques of V.K. Kunwor.
Each Knife is listed with title and a short informative text, in total 42 Kukri knifes.

“The kukri is at the very heart of the tradition and culture of Nepal, and, as a very good friend or deadly foe, it mirrors the duality of human nature and the nature of mankind.”

Kukri, Khukuri, Cookeri, Kookeri, Khukri, Kukree, Kukrie, Khukari, Gurkha knife.

" the national knife and principal weapon of the Gurkhas of Nepal. It has a heavy, curved, single-edged blade sharp on the concave side. The hilt is usually straight and without guard; occasionally it has a disk guard and pommel like a sword (kora) from the same sharpener. Quite often one, or both, of these knifes have hilts of branching stag-horn. The weight of the blade of the kukri is well towards the point and a tremendous blow can be struck with it with very little muscular exertion. There are well authenticated instances of a Gurkha having split the head of a man and cut well down into his chest with a single blow. It is carried by Gurkhas at all times and used as a jungle and hunting knife as well as for war. The scabbards are often embroidered with quills or decorated with silver or gold chaps."

In this article we will learn more about various Khukuri knifes that have a close relationship to the 8th Gurkha (Gorkha) Rifles, raised in 1824.

This article examines Khukuri (Kukri) knifes which have a strong connection to the 8th Gurkha Rifles (8 GR) due to being marked, stamped or otherwise directly linked to the regiment, the Shiny eight, which is one of the highest decorated Gurkha regiments, winning four VC´s in less than 60 years.  Along with the 5 th GR they won more VC´s than any other Gurkha Regiments.

The article briefly examines the Official Standard Issue Pattern, Battalion Issue and Kothimora Khukuri´s as used from the early days of the regiment till 1947.

Einführung

Das von Alain Bordier gegründete Tibet- Museum befindet sich im westschweizerischen Städtchen Gruyères, das für seinen mittelalterlichen Charakter berühmt ist. Das Tibet- Museum beherbergt eine wichtige Sammlung buddhistischer Skulpturen und Malereien sowie Ritualgegenständen. Alain Bordier hat diese Sammlung im Laufe von mehr als fünfundzwanzig Jahren mit grosser Umsicht gestaltet. Die Sammlung enthält etwa dreihundert Objekte, der grosse Teil davon tibetischen Ursprungs. Unter den Metallstatuen befinden sich aber auch Exemplare aus den an Tibet angrenzenden buddhistischen Kulturen. Darunter sind ausgesuchte Raritäten aus Nepal und weiteren Gegenden des Himalaya sowie solche aus Nordindien und Birma. Die ältesten Statuen im Tibet- Museum datieren aus dem 7. Jahrhundert und stammen aus den Gegenden Kaschmir und Swat, die im Nordwesten des indischen Subkontinents liegen. Die Kunst des nordostindischen Påla-Reiches und die davon beeinflusste buddhistische Kunsttradition von Birma (Myanmar) sind mit kleinformatigen Statuen aus Metall und Stein repräsentiert.
Die meisten Objekte im Tibet-Museum, auch diejenigen indischen und nepalesischen Ursprungs, befanden sich früher in der Obhut tibetischer Klöster, einige davon über mehr als tausend Jahren. Wie andere Sammlungen tibetischer Kunst wurde auch die von Alain Bordier im letzten Quartal des 20. Jahrhunderts zusammengestellt. Das Sammeln dieser Kunstwerke ermöglichten tibetische Flüchtlinge, die auf ihrer Flucht unzählige religiöse Objekte bei sich trugen. Der Grund für die Massenflucht dieser Menschen nach Nepal und Indien war die chinesische “Kulturrevolution”, die zwischen 1966 und 1969 stattfand. Damals wurden etwa dreitausend tibetische Klöster zerstört, wobei jedoch viele inzwischen wieder aufgebaut wurden. Trotz der Verluste infolge Zerstörung und Diebstahls haben viele religiöse Objekte überlebt. In der Obhut einiger grosser Klöster, die mehr oder weniger intakt blieben, befinden sich noch heute mehr als zweihunderttausend buddhistische Skulpturen und Malereien.
In den Jahren 1992 bis 2000 hat mich Alain Bordier auf sieben Forschungsreisen nach Tibet begleitet. Dabei haben wir unvergessliche Stunden in den Sammlungen des Potala-Palastes und des Jokhang-Tempels von Lhasa verbracht. Auch haben wir in Tibet zusammen noch viele andere Klöster besucht und deren Sammlungen studiert. Darunter waren Drepung, Drigung, Gyantse, Mindroling, Nor, Nethang, Reting, Sakya, Shalu, Sera, Thalung und Tandruk, um nur einige zu nennen. Es war mir eine Freude, Alain Bordier beim Aufbau seiner Sammlung als Ratgeber zur Seite zu stehen und ihm beim Erstellen einer Bibliothek und einer Dokumentation behilflich zu sein. Es ist wichtig zu erwähnen dass alle Objekte der Alain Bordier Foundation ausserhalb von Tibet erworben wurden.
Es ist mir ein Anliegen, mit dieser Publikation einen Einblick in die Welt der tibetischen Kultur zu ermöglichen, von der weltweit immer mehr Menschen fasziniert sind.

Mariahalden, Weesen, 2008                                                                                                                                       U. v. S.

Collection of Buddhist Sculptures in the Jokhang Temple

Taking photographs of objects inside Tibetan monasteries is very difficult if not outright impossible. In most monasteries access is restricted as a result of security measures imposed to prevent theft. Therefore, to facilitate access for scholars to photographs of Buddhist sculptures in Tibet, a DVD is attached to each copy of the book 108 Buddhist Statues in Tibet. This DVD contains digital photographs of the 108 illustrated statues and of the 419 most important Buddhist sculptures in the collection of the Jo khang/Lhasa gTsug lag khang. Some 311 of these statues were 2001 published in Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet. The remaining 108 sculptures are illustrated in Jokhang – Tibet’s Most Sacred Temple, edited by Gyurme Dorje (Thames & Hudson, 2009). These 527 digital photographs can be downloaded free of charge by anyone, regardless whether for personal use or for publication. The photographs were taken by Ulrich von Schroeder during 14 expeditions to Tibet between 1980 and 1997. The Jokhang sculptures have not received the attention they deserve. For public domain documentation see http://jokhangsculpture.com/index.html

This book is an attempt to describe the development of Tibetan Buddhism through the visual aspects of Buddhist sculptures. Buddhism is one of the major world religions that together with Hinduism and Jainism originated in India. Prince Siddhårtha, subsequently venerated as Buddha fiåkyamuni, established it more than 2500 years ago. Especially in Asia, different forms of Buddhism have been practiced for a long time and its followers number worldwide more than 300 million people. The different Buddhist traditions can be divided into two principal schools of thought. The orthodox forms of Buddhism, also known as Southern Buddhism, are still predominant in Sri Lanka, Burma (Myanmar), Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. The later forms are known as Northern Buddhism and are practiced predominantly in Tibet, other Himalayan regions, China, Mongolia, Korea, and Japan. A growing number of people all over the world are attracted to Buddhism. But it is doubtless the Tibetan Vajrayåna tradition that has fascinated the largest number among the new converts. It is certainly not a surprise that also a growing number of Chinese are fascinated with Tibetan Buddhism. This is a reoccurring phenomenon already known from the Yuan (1279–1368), Ming (1368–1644), and Qing (1644–1911) dynasties where a “patron and priest” relationship had existed between the spiritual leaders of Tibet (acting as spiritual mentors) and the secular Chinese emperors (acting as patrons).
The worldwide rising interest in Tibetan Buddhism is reflected by a growing number of books dealing with the various aspects of Tibetan culture and religion. Unfortunately, most publications have the shortcoming that they are almost exclusively illustrated with objects scattered worldwide in private and public collections. There are reasons behind this enormous exodus of Tibetan religious objects, the most prominent being that they were taken abroad in the aftermath of the “cultural revolution” between 1966 and 1969 when many Tibetan monasteries were destroyed. However, despite the enormous loss caused by destruction and theft, there still exist in Tibet important collections of religious artefacts numbering together more than two hundred thousand ancient sculptures and paintings. Under these circumstances it is difficult to understand why so few of the recently published books illustrate sculptures and paintings photographed in Tibet. A notable exemption is the two-volume chronicle Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet by this author published in 2001.  In these two monumental books more than 1100 important Buddhist sculptures are illustrated that belong to Tibetan monasteries.
A number of people have expressed their regret that there doesn’t exist a more affordable condensed edition serving as a general introduction to Indo-Tibetan Buddhist sculptures. With this much-awaited book, 108 Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet, a larger number of interested people will finally have a chance to get acquainted with some of the masterpieces kept in Tibetan monasteries. To enable Chinese-speaking people to get familiar with some of the most important sculptures in the Buddhist monasteries of the Tibetan Autonomous Region of the P.R.C., a Chinese edition is also published. As a tribute to the Tibetan-speaking people, both editions contain a list of illustrations in Tibetan dBu can script.

Mostly unknown to the outside world, the temples and storerooms of Tibet’s monasteries shelter a great number of ancient Buddhist objects. Most noticeable among them are the sculptures and paintings manufactured by Tibetan artists. But the treasures also include countless ancient statues surviving from the former Buddhist cultures surrounding Tibet. These statues include rare examples originating from India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Burma, and China. These images have withstood sometimes more than 1000 years of warfare and other calamities.
The main purpose of this book is to publish a representative selection of Buddhist statues belonging to Tibetan monasteries. The access to the temples and storage rooms of institutions such as the Po ta la palace and especially the Jo khang/Lhasa gTsug lag khang are restricted. Without my publications few people would be aware of the existence of these treasures. A long-term benefit of working with objects belonging to Tibetan monasteries is the fact that they will remain in the same locations for the foreseeable future. This will enable future generations of scholars to do additional research with the same objects. This is quite different from objects in private collections that are usually resold after some years.
As I know myself by firsthand experience, taking photographs of objects inside Tibetan monasteries is very difficult if not outright impossible. In most monasteries access is restricted as a result of security measures imposed to prevent theft. Therefore, to facilitate access for other scholars to a number of photographs of Buddhist statues in Tibet, a DVD is attached to each copy of this book. This DVD contains digital photographs of the 108 illustrated statues and of the 419 most important Buddhist sculptures in the collection of the Jo khang/Lhasa gTsug lag khang. Some 311 of these statues were previously published in Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet. The remaining 108 sculptures are illustrated in Jokhang – Tibet's Most Sacred Temple, edited by Gyurme Dorje (Thames & Hudson, 2009). These 527 digital photographs can be downloaded free of charge by anyone, regardless whether for personal use or for publication. It is the hope of the author that other scholars will take use of this opportunity to publish some of these wonderful Buddhist sculptures. The Jo khang statues especially have not received the attention they deserve by scholars. The Jo bo Buddha statue traditionally believed to have been brought to Tibet in the 7th century by the Chinese princess Wencheng (Tib.: Wun shing Kong jo) is the most important among the unbelievable treasures of the Jo khang chapels (cf. frontispiece).

Mariahalden, 2008                                                                                    U.v.S.

An article deals with the religious history, iconography, art and architecture of ancient Buddhist monastery Gum Baha in Sankhu, situated in North-Eastern part of the Nepal valley. A unique Buddhist complex, which history predates the first centuries AD, lacks a deeper research, although Gum Baha, which came to be widely known as Vajrayogini and associated with this Tantric goddess, whose sanctuary is housed in vihara’s pagoda, in fact represents (in architecture and arts) a history of Buddhism in Nepal, its development, doctrine & ideas, in Nepal. Here we speak of Nepalese Buddhism, also known as Newari Buddhism. Iconography of tympanums (torana) of pagoda style temples is being analysed carefully because it helps to find out an identity of divinities depicted on this fine toranas (tympanums). That analysis tries to reveal Tantric ideas, which had different religious, philosophical, social, political connotations, through medieval religious symbolism of art. Thus the special logic of development of Buddhism in Nepal, the core evolution of it’s ideas is revealed in architectural and artistic evolution of Gum Baha: as for example, the growth of religious importance of the female sanctuary instead of traditional baha cente (stupa – chaitya), which was an indication of popularity of shakti cults in Nepal (also related with the royal ideology and political rituals) on the one head, and the strengthening of the Tantric tradition on the other. As the author argues in the paper, the main deities of the two-roofed Swayambu pagoda (Jogeswara temple) represent the 5 Buddhas (Pancha Buddhas), with Amitabha being situated on the western (main, entrance) torana of the temple. The investigation of toranas’ iconography helps to find out dan iconographical program and the textual base of the monastery and its pagodas: our assumption gives a way to state that the Svayambhu myth and Svayambu Purana text (15 century) is that religious and ideological basis. The Swayambhu Purana tells the mythical story of creation of Nepal by Manjushri, bodhisattva of wisdom. The author shows that importance of the myth on different levels. It was an argument to state the Buddhist identity, an importance of Buddhist understanding of their role in social and political spheres. At the same time the history of Gum Baha could be a marvellous example of Hindu-Buddhist coexistence and contacts, often resulting in special syncretic trends. The state favoured cult of Vajrayogini, Buddhist devi widely popular among the Hindus and associated with royal power (as protectress) was another page of this process, which was the part of more global one, century’s long process of sanscritisation in Nepal. The long period of coexisting of Buddhism and Hinduism caused the formation of unique Hindu-Buddhist complex.

The final 15 folios of the Nepalese illuminated palm-leaf manuscript of the Sanskrit Gan. d. avyūha-sūtra of c. 1100 have more paintings per page, larger picture planes, and different types of scenes than are found on the leaves surviving from the first 340 folios. One example is Folio 348 in the Cleveland Museum of Art, which has been painted with scenes of a bodhisattva tossing a blue-skinned heretic, an unusual image of a monk or upāsika wearing blue robes, and a Vajrācārya priest setting a Hindu rishi ablaze. From the point of view of the Mahāyāna Buddhist makers of this manuscript, these figures may personify the wrong views that derail pilgrims on the bodhisattva path to enlightenment. The dramatic shift in imagery appears to reflect the transition from the end of the inspirational pilgrimage of Sudhana to the popular, protective dhāran .ī verses of the Bhadracarī that form the finale to the text. The scenes of destruction and elimination of heretical figures correspond with sentiments in the Bhadracarī, indicating that the artists understood the structure and content of the text.

Social History of Traditional Nepalese Buddhism
Summary

The book is devoted to the history of Nepalese Mahayana Vajrayana Buddhism (what is also now called Newar Buddhism) in pre-modern and early modern era. History of Tibetan Mahayana Buddhism in Nepal, its links with the Nepalese Mahayana is also another hero of the book. Investigating social organization of Buddhist sangha and laity in the Kathmandu Valley (The Valley of Nepal), the stronghold of Nepalese Buddhism and its traditions, the main theme was the question of identity, in all its compexity and divercity of forms it  happened to use. Thus analysis of the formation of the Buddhist identity reveals how this Buddhist tradition, Indian in its core, including Buddhist culture, texts, social and ritual organization  was domesticated and “Nepalisized”. The Nepalese Buddhist identity in a whole undergone a long period of adaptaion and change, and was linked with the problems of legitimation (on different levels) of  sangha, texts etc., as well as the question of ethnic and political idenities. It is better to speak about “different identities” which the Nepalese Buddhism  was able to hide: each social group and caste had an evolution of unique, shared just inside a group, system of values, legends of origin, etc. In that situation the Nepalese sangha members, for example, Sakya linage, conciderd themselves being the descendants of “the kin of the Buddha”, but not definitely Nepalese. An overlapping identities could be another feature of the Nepalese Buddhist communities being studied in the book. From another hand, the Nepalese Buddhism had common  ideology and origination myth which was unifying and spoke on behalf of all Nepalese (or at least try to do so through the hands of Buddhist pandits). The key point in the formation of the Buddhist and Nepalese (Newar) ethnic identity and perception of self was a “methageographical”  revolution of the 15 c. It was a “reinvention” of the routes of Nepalese Buddhist tradition and of a country itself (Nepal mandala or Nepal des) by the way independently from India and Indian Buddhism, from which the Nepalese tradition originates. Such texts as “Svayambhu Purana” (15 c.) ignoring India placed Nepal as a special, central and independent sacred geographical Buddhist land. The main stupa of the Nepalese Buddhism -  Svayambhu Stupa was reunderstood as “selfsufficient” and “selfarisen” onthological source of that tradition and as a symbol of buddhahood and enlightment. This ideas proclaimed selfsufficiantness of Nepal as sacred and political space. The reconstruction of the sphere of ideas was based on a wide range of Nepalese sources: Buddhist texts, chronicles, religious poetry and folk songs as well as visual arts and architecture etc.
Such important aspect of the Nepalese social history as caste system and its links with Buddhism is also discussed in the book.
  One of the unique peculiarities of the Nepalese premodern history is a specific dualism manifested in many fields of life from ideology and political issues to the symbolism of city planning, architecture and art, hierarchy and social organization, culture. It is what G. Toffin called “the moiety system” of the Nepalese and what I try to show that this system having roots deep in Nepalese religion: in the ideas of religious esoteric first and second – being rooted in a dual structure of the Nepalese caste system, which included parallel Hindu and Buddhist lines (of social groups). The socio-religious situation in medieval & early modern Nepal was affected by such phenomena as well as co existence of the Two Great Traditions.  The dualism as some kind of socio-cultural base could be seen as another “esoteric ideology” (as, a part of mandala ideology in South and South – East Asian regions) or “esoteric metaphor” (in a sense of the term used by R. Davidson) and indeed, is related in it’s roots and an archaic background of religions in South Asia.

This study explores the contextualization of the visual imagery associated with Dipankara Buddha in Nepal. As revealed in the early Mahayana text, the Mahavastu Avadana, Dipankara's importance in Buddhism is as the predictor of Sakyamuni's enlightenment, when the Buddha-to-Be Sakyamuni was born a young brahman named Megha in a previous lifetime. Because of Megha's gift of alms, Dipankara predicts that this young brahman will one day attain enlightenment as Sakyamuni. This study suggests that in Nepal, it is the reenactment of gift-giving and the receiving of the prediction of enlightenment by Dipankara that is the major driving force in the Newar community.

This study has two major objectives. First, I establish the iconographic components of Dipankara Buddha in regards to his visual and textual narrative in the Kathmandu Valley. I discuss the iconographic continuity with his representations in the greater Bactro-Gandharan region to reinforce the unique Newar features. Second, I provide an analysis of the multivalent understanding of Dipankara's role in Newar Buddhism through a localized narrative, illustrated on a scroll painting at Guita Bahi in the city of Patan.

My research uncovers the multivalent role of Dipankara Buddha in Newar Buddhism. The symbolism inherent in the iconographic components of Dipankara imagery in Nepal relates to his role as the bestower of a fortunate rebirth. This is reiterated by his veneration at two gift-giving festivals in the Kathmandu Valley, Pancadana and Samyak. Moreover, the themes inherent in the localized narrative of the Kapisavadana reveal the socio-religious significance of Dipankara. While providing the lay community a more fortunate rebirth through his veneration, his worship reaffirms the traditional role of the Buddhist monastic community.  Furthermore, this analysis further clarifies the unique features of Newar Buddhism by revealing cultural continuities within the Buddhist traditions of the Kathmandu Valley.

Supervisor: Dr. John C. Huntington