Tibetan Sacred Arts: 8 Major Deities

8 Major Deities

There are 8 major Deities that you can choose from for your commissioned Thangka

Here are some Thangkas with samples of each and information about them.

Clicking these templates will enlarge them so you can see them more clearly.

Buddha Shakyamuni

Tibetan: sha kya tu pa, sang gye, English: the Enlightened One, Sage of the Shakya Clan.

Usually depicted together with his two attendants, Shariputra on the left side and on the right side Maudgalyayana

The Sage of the Shakya clan was born in India and underwent hundreds of austerities to bring his meditative experience and view to consummation. He was the first in this particular human lineage to attain buddhahood, the full and complete awakening, and the first to spread the tradition of the Buddhist teachings. He is the sublime being who opens our eyes with his unlimited compassion and wisdom.

Medicine Buddha

Medicine Buddha template

Tibetan: sang gye men la. English: the Buddha, Guru of Medicine.   Also known as Vaidurya Prabha Raja, The King of lapis lazuli (or sapphire) light, he is dark blue in colour with one face and two hands.

Held in the right hand, in the gesture of supreme generosity, is a myrobalan plant (Latin: terminalia chebula. Skt.: haritaki). The left hand is placed in the lap in the gesture of meditation supporting the black begging bowl of a monk – filled with nectar.

Adorned with the patchwork robes of a fully ordained monk and the left arm covered, appearing in the nirmanakaya aspect of a buddha he is seated in vajra posture above a lotus and lion supported tiered throne.

The victorious one, the Medicine Buddha, was born of Gautama’s healing meditative absorption, from his intention to remove the sufferings of disease that arise from the various kinds of ignoble thoughts in the minds of beings. He taught the means to cure illnesses, and embodies the powerful force of motivation that can ease the pain of anyone who merely hears his name.

Chenrizi

Avalokiteshvara

Avalokiteshvara template

(Tibetan: chen re zi, English: the Four Handed Lord Gazing Downward)

Avalokiteshvara is the bodhisattva of compassion and the patron deity of Tibet.

Peaceful in appearance, white in colour (gold filled), he gazes forward with a beautiful countenance. The black hair is piled on the top of the head with some falling loose across the shoulders.
The first pair of hands placed at the heart holds a precious wish fulfilling jewel. The first left upraised at the side holds a mala of prayer beads. The left also upraised holds a lotus blossom delicately between the fingers.

Adorned with a crown of gold and jewels, earrings, necklaces, bracelets and anklets, he wears a krishnasara deerskin across the left shoulder. With a silk scarf wrapped about the shoulders, the lower body is attired in a silk skirt. The legs are folded in vajra posture atop a moon disc and multi-coloured lotus seat surrounded by a large red nimbus and orange aureola of radiant light.

Pink lotus flowers and green foliage adorn the edges. The ground in front is strewn with heaps of wishing gems, gold ornaments, elephant tusks, cymbals, a shell with scented water, lamp and flower vase.

The exalted Avalokiteshvara is the arising, in divine form, of the compassionate aspect of all buddhas. He is renowned as the deity of compassion – of supreme love for all beings that is never biased.
He has the capacity to bring happiness to the minds of all who hear his name; for example, just as mother would do for her child; he releases from their sufferings those who are miserable and  enmeshed in various kinds of pain as a result of having committed such negative actions as killing others.

White Tara

White Tara template

(Tibetan: drol ma kar mo),  White Tara is the goddess of longevity.

With a hue white like an autumn moon – radiant like a stainless crystal jewel, shining with rays of light, one face, two hands, and having three eyes; with the conduct of being sixteen years of age.
The right hand is in the mudra of supreme generosity; the left holds with the thumb and forefinger the stem of a white utpala to the heart with the petals blossoming at the ear.

Representing the buddhas of the three times the single stem is divided into three, in the middle is a blossoming flower, the right in fruition, the left in the form of a bud; adorned with various jewel ornaments; having various silk upper garments and a lower garment of red silk; seated with the legs in vajra posture.

The palms of the hands and feet each have an eye – the seven eyes of primordial wisdom.
Seated on a moon and pink lotus seat rising from the blue lotus pond below she emanates a blue-orange nimbus and a green-pink aureola surrounded on the sides and above by pink lotus blossoms.

Green Tara

Green Tara template

Tibetan: “sDrol ma ljang gu”) Green Tara is the embodiment of the activity of all Buddhas. She offers us a hand to lift us up to a mountain of enlightenment qualities.

Tara belongs to the Karma family of unobstructed compassionate activity. She is pictured with one face, two arms and a green-coloured body. Her right hand is outstretched in the mudra (sacred gesture) of generosity, and her left holds the stem of a blue lotus which  blossoms at her left ear.

She is known as the Swift One, due to her immediate response to those who request her aid. Furthermore she is known as the great liberator, specialising in overcoming obstacles in whatever form they manifest in our lives,  No deity in the Buddhist pantheon is more popular than Tara. She is especially known for her power to overcome the most difficult situations, giving protection against dangers and all kinds of fear.

Green Tara is endowed with the power and qualities of all the twenty-one forms of Tara, and is uniquely courageous in overcoming all that is counterproductive, whether externally (circumstances such as demonic influences or drought) or internally (factors such as attachment or aversion). She has countless emanations due to her passionate concern for she acts as one’s delighted ally, like a brother or sister, whenever anyone merely thinks of her.

Manjushri

Manjushri template

(Tibetan: jam pal yang. English: Manjushri is The Glorious One with a Melodious Voice), the bodhisattva that represents the wisdom of all the buddhas of the ten directions and three times.

Orange in colour, Manjushri has one face and two hands held to the heart in the dharma teaching gesture (mudra) delicately holding the stems of two lotus flowers blossoming at each ear. The blossom on his right supports the flaming sword of wisdom and the left supports the Prajnaparamita Sutra.

Very peaceful and smiling, he is adorned with a crown, jewel and gold ornaments and variously coloured silk garments, seated in vajra posture above a moon disc, multi-coloured lotus and lion supported tiered throne.

Vajrasattva

Vajrasattva template

(Tibetan: dor je sem pa. English: the Vajra Hero), is the Buddha of purification.

Vajrasattva, white in colour, has one face and two hands and holds with the right a gold vajra to the heart and with the left an upturned bell at the left hip. He seated in the centre of the multi-coloured lotus throne and bosomed his consort.

The glorious Vajrasattva is the manifestation in divine form of the  totally purified aspect of aversion, and is in essence the union of the one hundred families of peaceful and wrathful deities. He is a deity who is an antidote, for he purifies various kinds of negativity and ensures that beings gain abundant power to receive benefit.

This deity has the power definitely to bestow rare enlightened qualities on those who have faith in and rely on him.

Padmasambhava

Guru Rinpoche – Padmasambhava

Padmasambhava template

(Tibetan: pe ma jung ne, English: Lotus Born)

Guru Rinpoche Padmasambhava was the greatest Buddhist mystic saint of 8th century India and the main founder of Buddhism in Tibet.

He was invited by the Tibetan King Trisong Detsen when local spirits created supra-natural obstacles to the construction of Samye , the first Buddhist monastery in Tibet.

After an intensive meditation retreat in Nepal he entered Tibet subduing negative energies and political obstacles to the establishment of Buddhism in the Land of the Snows. The tales of his spiritual exploits and the profound teachings he passed to the King and 24 other disciples fill thousands of volumes.

With steady composure he gazes kindly on all beings. He is white in colour with a reddish hue, one face adorned with a moustache and goatee, the right hand holds an upright gold vajra. The left hand placed in the lap holds a white skullcap filled with nectar, jewels and a long-life vase.

The ornate katvanga staff of a Vajrayana mendicant decorated with white streamers rests against the left shoulder. Adorned with gold earrings and a necklace, the head is covered with a lotus hat, a gift of the King of Zahor, of silk brocade topped with a half-vajra and a single vulture feather.

Attired in various robes of different colours reflecting the disciplines of the Vinaya, Bodhisattva and Mantra Vehicles, he sits atop a sun and moon disc above a multi-coloured lotus blossom rising from the blue waters of Dhanakosha lake; encircled by a rainbow sphere.

Please Note: Your finished Thangka will be based on the small white templates shown with most of these 8 major deities and may or may not look closely like the big colored samples shown. Urgyen will discuss this in more detail with you when you call.