Pehar

This is the oldest painting which was shown in this exhibition, and reflects the exquisite brush work of the Tibetan artists of the seventeenth century. It is the type of tangka known in Tibetan as "nak-thang," in which the artist first covers the canvas with black paint, and then works on top of this with gold. The technique is reserved mostly for Dharma Protectors and wrathful Yidams. The black color is made from a concoction of lamp soot and indigo, thus giving it a slightly bluish tint. Various mineral colors are used to shade the bodies of the dieties.

The main figure in this composition is Pehar, the six-armed dharmapala or "Dharma Protector" who was brought to Tibet by Guru Padma Sambhava in the mid-eighth century, and appointed by him to serve as the protector diety of Samyey, Tibet's first monastery. Pehar is also the chief dharmapala of Drepung Loseling Monastery.

Text excerpted from the exhibition catalog written by Glenn Mullin and Andy Weber.

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