By the Light of Butterlamps

Introduction
Overview
Function
Iconography
Creation
Vajrayana Buddhism

Nagaraksa Manjusri
Tsakli, Nagaraksa Manjusri
Tibet, Mid/Late 19th Century
Mineral Pigment on Fabric
Tsakli (pronounced sak-lee) are thought to be a purely Tibetan invention, though their imagery reflect influences from India, Nepal, and Kashmir. These small initiation cards depict specific deities and symbols associated with the rituals of Vajrayana Buddhism. These rituals include empowerment ceremonies, transmission of teachings, purification rites, and funerary traditions. The subjects depicted in tsakli cover a vast range from major deities and protectors to their various power attributes and appropriate offerings.
Buddhist Manuscript
Buddhist Manuscript
Sakyamuni Buddha
Tibet, ca. 14th Century
Mineral Pigment on Paper
Unidentified Lama
Tsakli, Unidentified Lama
Tibet, 15th Century
Mineral Pigment on Paper

While tangka paintings often depict such subjects in rich detail, tsakli are unique in that they most often focus on just one item at a time. Assembled in sets of as many as eighty or more individual tsakli, they would be organized thematically and would feature particular families of deities or representations of specific rituals. Most of the tsakli in this exhibition were originally part of a bound set.
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