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Painted illustrations translate the written word into easily recognized and memorable forms and shapes, both peaceful and fearsome, that are meant to be visualized during the bardo practice in preparation for one’s own death or as part of the ritual at someone else’s death performed by a ritual specialist. In one folio various female forms are depicted in active postures, each with a different animal head and body color. The colors relate to basic elements such as fire, air, and earth, and the animal heads are derived from Central Asian species of wild game along with some iconic Indian animals such as the elephant and boar.
Illustrated Manuscript of The Liberation Through Hearing in the Intermediate State (Bardo Thodrol)
OriginMongolia
Date19th century
Dimensions7 3/8 × 24 1/4 × 1 1/8 in.
6 5/8 × 24 1/8 in. (Page Size)
6 5/8 × 24 1/8 in. (Page Size)
MediumPigments and ink on paper
Classification(s)
Credit LineRubin Museum of Art
Object numberC2004.37.3
Himalayan Art Resources Number65385, 66001-66084
Project Himalayan Arthttps://projecthimalayanart.rubinmuseum.org/essays/lukhang-murals/
DescriptionIlluminated books became very popular in nineteenth-century Mongolia, and unlike many Buddhist texts that were reproduced using block prints, most of these books were hand written as is true of this text. This manuscript of the Tibetan Book of the Dead, a guide to navigating the intermediate state of consciousness between death and rebirth, or the bardo, features a vertical Uyghur-based Mongolian script that was instituted by order of Chinggis (Genghis) Khan (reigned 1206–1227) in the early thirteenth century.Painted illustrations translate the written word into easily recognized and memorable forms and shapes, both peaceful and fearsome, that are meant to be visualized during the bardo practice in preparation for one’s own death or as part of the ritual at someone else’s death performed by a ritual specialist. In one folio various female forms are depicted in active postures, each with a different animal head and body color. The colors relate to basic elements such as fire, air, and earth, and the animal heads are derived from Central Asian species of wild game along with some iconic Indian animals such as the elephant and boar.
Not on view
mid-18th century
18th century
13th century
16th century
18th century
13th-14th century
early 20th century
Related Object/Related Object
Manuscript/Folios in Manuscript
