Arts from the Rooftop of Asia – Tibet, Nepal and Kashmir
Spirituality can be expressed through art. Though many people are impressed by a nice statue or painting of the Buddhas, since they are representations of the holy forms of enlightened beings, they are not only a source of merit for our practice but also a roadmap to the enlightened state itself.
Art has always been my passion since I was a young boy, especially art related to Buddhism and spirituality. Since ancient times, spirituality, religion and the concept of divinity have been expressed in art form, and the combination of art and Buddhism has given the religion a unique texture and voice. Countless masterpieces and drawings depicting various religions and beliefs have dotted history and become an essential part of human civilisation. Admiration of these beautiful and timeless pieces continues until this day and appears likely to go on even longer.
I found this fascinating PDF, with the title, ‘Arts from the Rooftop of Asia – Tibet, Nepal and Kashmir’ on the Internet and I would like to share it with all of you. This 17-page PDF document was produced by The Metropolitan Museum of Art and forms part of The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin that was published in May 1971.
It states in the publication that art from this region holds very rich religious symbolism, especially seeing how they are perfect fusions of Hinduism, Shamanism, and Buddhism. From the content and images of this issue of the Metropolitan Musuem of Art Bulletin you will be able to see how multiple religions and cultures in this region that covers Tibet, Nepal, Kashmir and even India and China are connected and how they influenced one another in the expression of the various faiths and how they guided the evolution of each others’ art history. What is beautiful is seeing how art has very ably assumed the role of diplomat, bringing different nations, cultures, and religions closer together.
The Himalayan region is known for producing many outstanding works of spiritual art
From ‘Arts from the Rooftop of Asia – Tibet, Nepal and Kashmir’, it is clear that the Tibetan thangka (scroll painting) has Chinese influences. We also see how two different cultures – Kashmiri and Nepalese created two separate and distinctive styles of Buddha Shakyamuni statues; and it is also interesting to see multiple depictions of the Buddha of Compassion as visualised by different people from different cultures. In art, differences do not result in separation and conflict but instead it produces interesting variations which enriches the overall fabric of spirituality. This itself is befitting of spirituality and explains the objective of spirituality very well.
The PDF is provided here for purely educational purposes and I hope you enjoy learning from it. All rights are reserved by The Metropolitan Museum of Art and I express my appreciate to them for producing such a fine and beneficial document.
Tsem Rinpoche
Arts from the Rooftop of Asia – Tibet, Nepal and Kashmir by Fong Chow
Click here to download the PDF of ‘Arts from the Rooftop of Asia – Tibet, Nepal and Kashmir’.
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Disclaimer: The texts above were sourced from legitimate book-hosting services offering these texts for free download. They are made available here for purely educational, non-commercial purposes.
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Ancient Buddha Images and statues are truly beautiful and are works of art. This article is mainly about arts from the rooftop of Asia which is mainly at Tibet, Kashmir, and Nepal. It is true that the combination of art and Buddhism has given the religion a unique texture and voice. It has varied throughout its ancient history, different forms of art have been influenced by great philosophers, teachers, religious figures and even political leaders. Its seem that religions and cultures is somehow connected to each others in countries such as Tibet, Nepal ,Kashmir and even in China. Art has since brought countries , cultures, and religions closer together. Thank you Rinpoche and blog team for such an interesting sharing. 🙏😘😘🕉☸️
For more than a thousand years, artists have played a key role in the cultural life in Asia. At Tibet, Kashmir, and Nepal their arts flourished as its equally important part of their culture, architecture and their way of living to the outer world. The artist using art to express their knowledge, skills . The art painting reveal the way of lifestyle and strong belief they have in Buddhism. From the book ‘Arts from the Rooftop of Asia , Chinese has influence in the Tibetan paintings of thangkas and many art paintings in the region. Religious influence on Nepalese handicrafts. Interesting book revealing the history of arts with rare and precious pictures.
Thank you Rinpoche for this sharing.
Thank you so much for this article. This article is mainly about arts from the rooftop of Asia which is mainly at Tibet, Kashmir, and Nepal. It is true that the combination of art and Buddhism has given the religion a unique texture and voice.
It clearly shows that the Tibetan thangka has Chinese influences. In art, differences do not causes separation and conflict but it produces interesting variations which enriches the overall fabric of spirituality.
Ancient Buddha Images are truly beautiful and are works of art. Thank you to Rinpoche and the team who made this article possible and made it accessible to the world.
The sacred artistic imagery using Buddhism inspiration and motifs was meant to uplift the mind towards spiritual. More often than not, the art combined religious aspect with cultural aspects to expose common people to divinity. Thank you, Rinpoche, for introducing the book “Arts from the Rooftop of Asia – Tibet, Nepal and Kashmir” – which distinguished the uniqueness of sacred art from each region.
Arts from the rooftop of Asia…. Tibet, Nepal and Kashmir are so unique and so enchanting due to their ancient and refined traditional culture . Their form of arts painting is one of the oldest continuous artistic traditions in the world. Tibet, Nepal and Kashmir has been noted for its fine arts for centuries. It has varied throughout its ancient history, different forms of art have been influenced by great philosophers, teachers, religious figures and even political leaders. Its seem that religions and cultures is somehow connected to each others in countries such as Tibet, Nepal , Kashmir and even in China. Art has since brought countries , cultures, and religions closer together.
Thank you Rinpoche for this interesting sharing.