Glossaries

SANSKRIT

The following are a few sanskrit terms often used in Himalayan art descriptions. They  complement the glossary of Tibetan Buddhism published on Himalayan Art Resources

alida pose: powerful kick
amrita: dew of compassion.

apsara: minor female heavenly being commonly portrayed as decorative elements in art, often depicted as flying in the sky.

astamangalas: the eight auspicious symbols.

bhuja: arm

bhutadamara: type of mantra, and an aspect of wrathful Vajrapani.

cakra/chakra: wheel of life

damaru: drum made from two human skulls, skin and cloth.

danda: stick (Mahakala holds one) also called ghandi stick.

dharma: the teachings of Buddha.

dharma raja: religious king.

dhvaja: victory banner

ekadashamukha: 11-face (Avalokiteshvara)

hasti: elephant.

herukas: enlightened beings that adopt fierce forms to express their liberation from the world of ignorance.

kalacakra/kalachakra: wheel of time (and a deity).

kalash/kalasha:  in Buddhist art, a long-life vase, i.e. a vase from which amrita is flowing on four sides. It may be topped with ashoka tree leaves or the effigy of a buddha or an aureole with a syllable. It is Amitayus’ s main attribute.

kapala: skull cup

kartika or kartrika: flaying knife.

khatanga or khatvanga: ritual staff, usually made of vajra handle, 2 human heads and a skull, trisula and ribbons, carried in the left arm by wrathful or semi-wrathful tantric Buddhist deities, representing the consort, male or female. The 3 heads or 2 heads and skull represent aversion, attachment and confusion.

Khechara: pure land or level of spiritual attainment.

kila or kilaya: three-sided peg used as a ritual dagger

kinnara: its top half is human, the bottom half is that of a bird.

krodha: black (referring to a wrathful deity).

kundika: water sprinkler used to wash hands in Buddhist ceremonies.

kyang or khyang: mule-like wild horse of Central Asia which Lha-Mo rides.

jnana: (ye-she in Tibetan) deep awareness.

makara: sea creature with antelope head and horns, elephant trunk, fangs, crocodile teeth and body.

mukha: face

naga: mythical serpentine creature appearing as human or snake, or both together with a human torso above and a coiled snakes tail below. They inhabit the regions beneath the earth, and in the oceans, lakes, streams, or large rocks and boulders.

nagaraja: naga king  (and also a prince from Western Tibet).

nagini: female equivalent

padme : lotus

pandita:  in Tibetan Buddhism, term used to describe either an Indian scholar that assisted, along with a Tibetan scholar, in the translating of Sanskrit texts into Tibetan, or a Tibetan scholar that translates Sanskrit texts into Tibetan.

patra: large bowl

prabhamandala: halo of fire behind a main deity, usually a repoussé panel depicting gods and goddesses.

ratna: jewel

rudra: the howler, the terrible one, the archer.

sahaja: type of yoga.

sharabha: mythical creature with the body of a horse, the claws of an eagle (not always), the head of a goat, the horns of a goat or antelope or ram, the mane of a lion.

sita: white (as in Sita Tara = White Tara).

sutra: sacred text

svasti, svastika, emblem of Buddhism, meaning auspicious in the Sanskrit language. When turning to the left it is the principal religious symbol of the Bon and Jain religions. See ‘yungdrung’

tathaga(ta) (Thus Gone One): dyani Buddha, transcendent Buddha, a general term of respect for all buddhas, having gone, passed beyond cyclic existence.

torana: the elaborate backrest, or arch, surrounding the central Buddha subject in paintings and sculpture. Gateway in architecture.

tridandi: trident made of three lotus stalks

trisula: spiky trident at the top of a ritual staff.

triratna: triple gem, symbolises the trinity of Buddha, dharma and sangha (believers). Also, the precious jewel of the cakravartin.   i

urna: the small dot on the forehead of the Buddha, representing a white hair tuft, one of his 32 marks. It is often confused with a third eye.

ushnisha: some describe it as a buddha’s chignon, others as a cranial protuberance. In Gandharan art it is often a soft hair bun. In parts of the Himalayas it is topped with a jewel-like ornament or a lotus bud, and it symbolises a buddha’s wisdom and openness.

vajraghanta: “diamond bell”.

vajrasana: kneeling position sitting on the heels. In buddhist art the term is equivalent to padmasana (lotus position), whereby a figure is seated with both legs locked.

visvajra: double vajra.

viyala or vyala: mythical creature half lion and half horse, or half lion and half griffin.

yaksha: ancient Indian nature spirit associated with tree worship. In Buddhist art, these dwarf-like pot-bellied creature with bulging eyes may be peaceful (Yellow Jambhala) or wrathful (Achala). A figure with a yaksha appearance may be a main deity or an attendant, in which case it is always smaller than the main deity it accompanies.

TIBETAN 

baghu: purse.

bardo: intermediate state of existence. The time between death and rebirth.

bumpa, bumchu: long-life vase, precious vase, wisdom urn (see Tshe-bum).

brug: dragon and the noise made by thunder.

chod: Tibetan tantric practice known as “Cutting”, popularised by female teacher Machig Labdron.

chokhang/jokhang: offering hall, prayer room.

chorten: stupa.

choshom: small shrine furniture with windows or openings to place bronze statues.

chu: river, stream.

Denpa: Tibetan ethnic group.

dorje: vajra, diamond sceptre or thunderbolt.

drigug: vajra-headed ritual flaying knife.

dukhang: assembly hall.

gam: trunk

ga’u: amulet box to keep texts, ashes, fragments of ambrosia or/and ritualistic robes, also portable shrines in the shape of a torana.

Gelugpa order: founded by Tsong Khapa in the 15^th century.

gompa: monastery

gongkhang: room that houses wrathful protective deities.

kangling: trumpet or horn made out of human thighbone.

karpo: white

Kagyupa order: founded by Marpa in the 11^th century

khang: house

khenpo: title, usually of an abbot.

lama: spiritual teacher, enlightened master

legden: excellent one (a form of Mahakala).

lha: god

lhakhang: chapel, shrine, temple.

Lopa: ethnic group from Tibet.

mani, mane: jewel

maning: eunuch (a form of Mahakala).

marpo: red

menla: medicine

Menpa: ethnic group from Tibet.

norbu: flaming jewel

nangkor: inner circumambulatory passage.

pa: follower (of the faith).

panchen lama: lineage of incarnate lamas, recognised as manifestations of Amitabha Buddha; abbots of Tashilunpo Monastery; closely associated with the Dalai Lamas.

pecha: prayer manuscript

pegam: reading table with high back to hold the manuscripts.

phags-pa: (arya in Sanskrit) highly realised practitioner.

phur.bu (Kham, Amdo, Laddakh), pur.ba in Central Tibet: a kila.

rimpoche: (‘precious one’) honorific term for a recognised, reincarnate lama of high status.

sangye: buddha

tashi dagey: the 8 auspicious symbols.

tog chag: (“lightning metal”), amulets, small metal objects thought to be created in the ground by lightning striking the earth.

tonpa: Bon teacher

torma: conical dough sculpture made of barley flour and butter, sometimes elaborately decorated and coloured, used as stylized food offerings in Buddhist rituals and initiations.

torgam, thorgam: butter shrine, usually fitted in a wall, or furniture to keep tormas.

tsa-tsa: small clay icon of a deity or other religious symbol.

tsak li or tsakali: small paintings, generally the size of playing cards, created in sets and containing illustrations of deities, animals, objects, and abstract images. Used in Buddhist rituals and initiations.
tso: lake

tsog: tantric food offering.

tshe-bum/tso-bum and le-bum: 2 forms of bumpa (long-life vases).

tulku: reincarnate lama

yab-yum: father-mother, tantric embrace which represents the union between method (compassion) – or masculine quality, and wisdom – or feminine quality, the sum of which is the power of love and can be represented by a bow and a flowery arrow.

 ye-she: jnana, deep awareness.

yungdrung: meaning everlasting, the Tibetan word for a svastika. According to some, when turning to the left it is the principal religious symbol of the Bon religion, where it has no meaning if turning to the right. It is otherwise a decorative element, occasionally with a more specific meaning within a specific Tantric context.

Zeebag, Zeepata: Kirtimukha.

Zhangzhung: an ancient Bonpo kingdom and language in west Tibet located near Mount Kailash.

OTHER TERMS

aureola, aureole: the circle of light surrounding the head or the whole body of a spiritual figure.

nimbus, halo: the circle of light surrounding the head only. Some texts say that Shakyamuni never had a halo, he emitted rays of light, hence the Gandhara solar type of halo.

aureola + nimbus = glory (see mandorla)

bronze: 90% copper and 10% tin.

fresco: implies a specific technique for creating murals which is not employed in the Himalayas or Tibet.

mandorla: Italian word for almond, arch of heaven sometimes composed of two overlapping circles, one about the head and one about the body, sometimes one-piece and shaped like a horse-shoe or an arch or gateway pointed at the top etc.

(And just for the record, polychrome is an adjective and polychromy is a noun).