Ariana Maki
LightNews LightNews
banner
arianam.bsky.social
Ariana Maki
@arianam.bsky.social
1.3K followers 450 following 200 posts
Himalayan & South Asian art history, Bhutan, Tibet, Buddhist art & ritual. Fulbright Scholar (2x) & NEH-Mellon Fellow. Also likes: decentering the canon, digital humanities, open access, Pictured Rocks. lifeofthebuddha.org | bhutan.virginia.edu
Posts Replies Media Videos
Pinned
arianam.bsky.social
Ariana Maki @arianam.bsky.social · Jan 28
Exhausted by evildoers? #Buddhists might consider Bhūtaḍāmara practice. A peek:

“Make a fist with your left hand
And extend your middle finger and thumb.
This mudrā makes female spirits appear in person
And causes the destruction of all evildoers."

#ThangkaTuesday #Himalaya #ObstacleRemoval
A vertical format Himalayan painting. The center of the composition is dominated by a standing, dark blue, four armed, two legged figure encircled in red and orange flames, standing on top of a personified obstacle that lies between the main figure's feet and multicolored blue, pink, orange, and green lotus petals–a flower that signifies the main figure's enlightened actions. Below are three small seated Buddhist masters, each on their own louts, wearing monastic robes and hats indicating they are from the Nyingma and Kagyu traditions. At bottom left is a shirtless seated adept, or practitioner who has separated themselves from society. He also sits on a lotus and is surrounded by a halo. A lay devotee in white robes with a red halo sits cross-legged on a lotus raising his hands in respect. Across the top is a register of five figures; the two on the ends are bodhisattvas, and between them are three Buddhas. Below each bodhisattva is a master teacher. To the left is a teacher from the Geluk tradition and on the right is a Sakya practitioner. Together, nearly all the major traditions of Tibetan Buddhism are present. The main image, Bhutadamara Vajrapani, holds a lasso–used to bind obstacles–in his left hand, and a dorjé, or symbol of the indestructible, in his upraised right hand. His remaining two hands are crossed at the wrists at the center of his chest, with his red palms facing outward and little fingers linked in a distinctive gesture associated with this form of Vajrapani. 14th century sculpted image of Bhutadamara Vajrapani from the Gyantse Kumbum in central Tibet. The main figure is in the same dark blue, four armed, two legged form surrounded by flames and standing on a figure lying down on a lotus base. On either side is a smaller dark blue, two armed, standing attendant figure, each of whom also stands on his own louts and holds his own dorje implement in his upraised proper right hand. Another horizontal format thangka of Bhutadamara Vajrapani, this time with a more open landscape surrounding him. Each of the corners is occupied by a bodhisattva seated on a lotus: at top right is the four-armed white Chenrezig Chakzhipa (Cintamani Lokesvara), an embodiment of compassion; bottom right is the eight armed, three-faced, white long life deity Namgyelma (Ushnishavijaya); bottom left reveals the white long life deity Drolkar (White Tara), recognizable by her 7 eyes (Saptalocana); and top left, seated amidst clouds, is Norgyunma (Vasundhara), the golden goddess of good harvest and abundance. Directly above Vajrapani's head is a small gold circle, in which appears to be the longku (sambhogakaya) form of Mitrupa (Aksobhya). The flames around the main figure are pink and orange, while the midground on either side of him show recessive distance through its small, rounded hills.
arianam.bsky.social
Thinking a lot about karma and opportunities to witness it ripening…

Thus, #ThangkaTuesday features the Wheel of Becoming (Bhavachakra; སྲིད་པའི་འཁོར་ལོ།) which illustrates #Buddhist ideas of cause & effect, realms of rebirth, aka samsara.

📷: Natl Gallery Prague via HAR

#himalaya #buddhistart #karma
A Buddhist painting centered on a large circle divided into six sections like spokes of a wheel. In each section are small figures, human, animal, and various non-humans. At the center are representations of poisons and their effects. The diagram is superimposed on the front of a humanoid figure with bulging eyes and a fanged mouth.
July 29, 2025 at 6:08 AM
arianam.bsky.social
Another site doing things with AI that none of their users want—this time academia.edu making AI-generated “podcasts” about our scholarship…

#AcademicSky
A person wearing a plaid skirt and black sweater stands with their back against the wall, labeled “me”, facing them is another person wearing similar clothing but with the addition of black tights. The second person is labeled “Any Company”. They are standing so that they are viewed from behind, and are holding a tuba up on their shoulder so that its bell obscures the first person’s face, seemingly swallowing them. The tuba is labeled “AI”. Personal note: AI is a an energy hungry hallucination-prone bullshit machine being forced on us by desperate VC d bags and tech bros who want to recoup their investments. AI makes us dumber.
June 25, 2025 at 2:27 PM
arianam.bsky.social
#ThangkaTuesday transatlantic edition. It’s wheels up from Bhutan & this Yeshe Tsogyal keeps coming to mind—her gorgeous garments, especially the subtle striping on her wrap, and the adornments in her hair. Simply sublime!

📷: me, pvt collection, Bhutan
#himalaya #himalayanart #bhutan #buddhistart
Detail from a Himalayan Buddhist painting, showing a seated woman wearing a colorful green top, blue outer garment, and red trousers with gold details.
June 17, 2025 at 8:35 AM
arianam.bsky.social
#ThangkaTuesday was on hiatus—now back with this beauty from the newly opened Wangduechholing Palace Museum in #Bhutan. It took us a while, but we think we know which Je Khenpo it is. (18th!) Thanks to the WPM team for the guided tour & invitation to speak.

#buddhistart #himalaya #fulbright
Traditional Bhutanese Buddhist painting, vertical format, focused on a large scale human teacher wearing red & orange robes and a red hat, surrounded by other Buddhist teachers and deities shown in smaller scale.
June 11, 2025 at 10:25 AM
arianam.bsky.social
Excited to see this talk on Tibetan scripts by Pentsok Rtsang!

#himalaya #tibet
sakyaresearch.bsky.social sakya research centre @sakyaresearch.bsky.social · May 26
🎙️ #TibetanStudiesTalks

Thursday, 12 June 2025, 14:15 (CEST)
Online Guest Lecture in Indology & Tibetology, @lmumuenchen.bsky.social

Lecture by Pentsok Whenggyel Rtsang:
The Evolution and Great Diversity of Tibetan Scripts

lmu-munich.zoom-x.de/meeting/regi...

#tibetanscript #tibetancalligraphy
May 26, 2025 at 2:23 PM
arianam.bsky.social
Belated #ThangkaTuesday entry comin’ in hot with a tiny detail of three cave-dwelling, red-robed yogis propitiating a rather remarkable phallus (man? spirit?)

#himalaya #buddhistart #bhutaneseart
Detail of a painting showing three Buddhist practitioners, seated cross-legged, wearing red robes, and holding musical instruments and offerings. They are all looking at a being with two arms and legs, facial features on its torso, and a huge spurting phallus where a human head would generally be located.
May 21, 2025 at 7:49 AM
arianam.bsky.social
We dodged a bullet—imagine what continued funding for the arts would have contributed to. All those people thinking about & responding to, and (shudder) finding joy in, the human condition…

Great that this will reduce creative expression & thoughtful engagement even more rapidly 👊🇺🇸🔥
mcsweeneys.net McSweeney's @mcsweeneys.net · May 11
"And it’s not like billionaires can just fund the arts themselves. No, no. They’re busy innovating and coming up with new ways to get out of paying taxes on their sixth yacht."
Phew, for a Minute There, I Thought the Arts Were Going to Get Too Much Funding
“Dozens of US arts organizations have been notified that offers of government grants have been terminated, hours after Donald Trump proposed elimin...
buff.ly
May 12, 2025 at 2:55 AM
arianam.bsky.social
From the Yum Chenmo above to the trio of figures below, this Dorje Sempa yab yum is atypical. At least 2 artists contributed, with a steadier hand rendering the main deity pair as compared to the flanking Kagyu & Drukpa Kagyu lineage figures.

📷: NMB

#ThangkaTuesday #himalaya #bhutan #buddhistart
A Bhutanese traditional vertical format painting of Buddhist deities and masters. The main figures, a deity pair, are largest in scale at center and are flanked by a series of smaller lineage figures. A yellow seated deity is above their heads, and a buddha, a bodhisattva, and a meditational deity are below.
April 29, 2025 at 1:58 PM
Reposted by Ariana Maki
chiuangelas.bsky.social
Sotheby's is about to auction off remains of the Buddha taken by colonial officials from India in 1898. "For the Buddhists who deposited them-as for Buddhists today-the gems, & his bone & ash, all belong to the Buddha & shouldn’t just be sold to the highest bidder." religionnews.com/2025/04/22/a...
Auctioning the Buddha's relics is perpetuating colonial violence
(RNS) — For the Buddhists who deposited these relics — as for Buddhists today — the gems, bone and ash all belong to the Buddha and shouldn’t just be sold to the highest bidder.
religionnews.com
April 26, 2025 at 7:52 AM
arianam.bsky.social
Generosity is the theme of this #ThangkaTuesday. This charming Vajradhara (རྡོ་རྗེ་འཆང་།), Holder of the Indestructible, is in a private collection shown to me years ago. I adore its simplicity & beauty, and that little extra head tilt. My gratitude to those who have shown me so much.

#himalaya #bhutan
Two hands hold up a small embroidered thangka for the camera. The fabric ground is black and torn in places, while the figure, stitched in golden thread, depicts a cross-legged, two-armed, crowned deity sitting on top of a lotus.
April 22, 2025 at 2:32 PM
arianam.bsky.social
Maybe more mantras will help

#bhutan #himalaya
April 17, 2025 at 5:32 PM
arianam.bsky.social
Since 2020, I've noticed more images of & initiations for Black Manjushri (འཇམ་དབྱངས་ནག་པོ།), a form of the #Buddhist bodhisattva of wisdom believed to help those experiencing #anxiety, depression, or other disturbances in their mental state.

#himalaya #thangkatuesday
📷: Zanabazar Museum
A small painting of a dark blue male deity wearing a red garment on his lower body. He's sitting cross legged "lotus style", wherein the top of each foot rests against the calf of the opposite leg so that the soles of his feet point skyward. Below him is a red lotus and a golden "halo" of light appears behind his body, while another, smaller, flame-edged halo emerges from his shoulders and encircles around his head. His right arm extends out at shoulder level, his hand grasping the handle of a vajra-hilted sword that he brandishes above him. In his left hand is the stem of a lotus, bends up and to the right, terminating in a pink bloom that holds aloft a rectangular traditional Himalayan Buddhist book.
March 31, 2025 at 5:44 PM
arianam.bsky.social
This timeline cleanse brought to you by Drukyel Dzong in Paro.

#bhutan 🇧🇹
In the foreground are terraced fields prepared for upcoming spring planting. At midground, a bright white fortress with red and golden roofing has its upper walls punctuated with wooden framed windows. Surrounding the building are tall trees, and to the left, a series of family houses dot the hillside. Tall mountains, some snow covered and above the tree line, expand the scene further. A mostly cloudy sky includes a peek of blue, and the light reflected through the clouds makes the white fortress seem to shine slightly.
March 27, 2025 at 9:21 AM
arianam.bsky.social
How to paint the overcoming of ego? In #Himalayan #Buddhism, vanquished ego & other obstacles to achievement can appear as a garland of severed & decaying heads strung on entrails, or as figures being trampled underfoot...

📷: Loeb (L) & Tang Museum (R)

#ThangkaTuesday #Tibetanart #Buddhistart
Detail of a painting showing garland of severed and decaying heads encircling the lower half of a blue deity, who also wears jewelry and snake ornaments. The figure's feet stand in the ballet first position atop a personified obstacle, a male lying on his back with an anguished expression. Detail of a blue ox pressed atop, and likely forcefully copulating with, a prone human figure with a dismayed expression on his face. The ox is the vehicle of the deity pair that stands atop it, and the human represents the subjugation of obstacles. A lotus base atop a rocky outcropping appears below.
March 11, 2025 at 11:17 AM
arianam.bsky.social
In #Himalayan #Buddhism, compassion doesn't always cut it, especially for stubborn obstacles. In this mural, a Buddhist master flings a blazing ritual sculpture (torma; གཏོར་མ་) toward the enemies, who are in turn peppered with a rain of fiery daggers from the sky.

📷: Me, Paro, Bhutan
#buddhistart
Bhutanese mural showing a figure wearing a black hat and dark blue robes holding a blazing object on a tray, while nearby red-robed monks play ritual horns and drums. They stand on an outcropping, the other side of which are warriors trying to attack but being assailed by flaming daggers hurtling from the sky.
March 9, 2025 at 5:40 AM
arianam.bsky.social
Escapism is the word of the day for today’s #ThangkaTuesday. Sick of/from samsara, #Buddhists can turn practice to one of several Pure Lands. Rebirth there means enlightenment is guaranteed, so matter how long it takes.

I often teach this work from the Met showing the Land of Great Bliss (2004.139)
An elaborate painting of a Buddhist heaven realm with a large Buddha seated at center, surmounted by a tree full of sumptuous offerings of musical instruments and flowers, as well as throngs of devotees.
March 4, 2025 at 5:57 PM
arianam.bsky.social
ལོ་གསར་བཀྲིས་བདེ་ལགས། Happy New Year!

May the Year of the Wood Snake bring joy, good health, and happiness in abundance.

📷: Detail of a thangka of Tsepakme, Williams College Museum of Art (M.2024.22.11)
Detail from a Tibetan painting showing two phoenix near light blue water. On the other side of the water are heaps of round, colorful, stylized gems and other precious offerings, along with lotuses.
February 28, 2025 at 3:05 AM
arianam.bsky.social
#ThangkaTuesday inspo: Tibetan equivalents of #Medieval goth manuscript lions.

Some paintings of Buddhas & teachers have lions in the thrones, referencing the Buddha Shakyamuni (Lion of the Sakya Clan)

#Buddhistart #Himalaya

📷: L: Detail, Drakpa Gyatso's throne
R: Detail, Menlha's throne
via HAR
Detail of a painting showing the detail of a Buddhist throne, made of multicolored lotus petals, under which are geometric forms of the throne structure. A small white snow lion with bulgy eyes and pert tail occupies one portion of the throne base, perhaps pondering his fate as he stares, unseeing, over his right front leg. A blue gem with stylized flames is in the space nearby. A detail of a snow lion throne element from a Tibetan painting. The lion, mouth agape, stands and looks up toward the sky. Its bushy black eyebrows give Eugene Levy a run for his money.
February 25, 2025 at 6:42 PM
arianam.bsky.social
Sickness stinks, but Buddhists in the #Himalaya can call on several deities to help heal. This #ThangkaTuesday highlights Ta Chak Khyung Sum (རྟ་ཕྱག་ཁྱུང་གསུམ།), a single deity who packs the power of three: blue Chana Dorje, the green horse head of Tandin, and white Khyung.

#tibetanart #buddhism
Painting of a standing, two armed dark blue deity with three eyes, stretching out his right hand and holding his left hand at heart level. He's standing on a lotus and is surrounded by orange and red flames. In his upswept hair is a small green horse's head and above the hair is a white mythical bird called a Garuda.
February 18, 2025 at 12:20 PM
Reposted by Ariana Maki
andrewquintman.bsky.social
Inspired by @bryandaniellowe.bsky.social's manuscript that was never meant to be read, here's another: a long consecration inscription on the back of a Tibetan portable scroll painting (thangka) of Milarepa, in the shape of a stūpa.

#ManuscriptMonday
1/
Long Tibetan consecration inscription in the shape of a stūpa on the rear of a hanging scroll (thangka) portrait of Milarepa. Photography © The Art Institute of Chicago.
February 17, 2025 at 3:28 PM
arianam.bsky.social
Special Valentine's Day edition: the 'magnetizing' power deity Kurukulle. Her flowery bow, arrow, hook, & lasso are sure to snare that special someone...but only if you have the proper initiation, instructions & empowerment to try!

#thangka #buddhistart #himalaya #valentinesday
A painting of a standing, golden colored, four-armed female deity in a dancing posture, with one leg raised. She holds a bow, arrow, hook, and lasso made of flowers. Surrounding her are flames and dozens of smaller, two-armed manifestations that are red in color. Overview of the full painting, showing all the assembled figures, with a red Buddha at the top center. Down below are offerings of stylized gems and items to please the senses.
February 14, 2025 at 4:17 PM
arianam.bsky.social
Take a break from doomscrolling with #ThangkaTuesday, featuring green Tara (སྒྲོལ་ལྗང་།), who saves Buddhist faithful from the eight great fears, one of which is snakes.

#TibetanBuddhism #BuddhistArt #Himalaya #Buddhist #Buddhism #TibetanArt
Detail of a painting of a green, two-armed figure sitting on a lotus, surrounded by a multicolored halo, holding out her right hand toward a small snake. She also holds a blue lotus flower in each hand. A vertical format traditional Tibetan Buddhist painting showing eight green female figures, each of which is sitting on a lotus and surrounded by a halo around their head and another around their body. The haloes are orange while the rest of the composition is mostly green, blue, and gold, with some pink in the lotuses. Each figure holds out her right hand to gesture toward the representation of an obstacle.
February 11, 2025 at 4:17 PM
arianam.bsky.social
For #ThangkaTuesday, and for no other reason whatsoever, here are some #Buddhist images of leopards eating faces:

Padmasambahva & Yeshe Tsogyal in a thangka of the problem-pinning deity Dorjé Phurbu, as tigers and leopards dig in to some face flesh nearby.

#tibetanart #leopards #himalaya
Detail of a painting showing a seated Buddhist master in robes holding ritual implements. Next to his halo to the right, a leopard eats the face of a prone human, while a bird removes the entrails of another body above. Below the master's lotus base, another feline bites into a body.
February 4, 2025 at 11:32 AM
Reposted by Ariana Maki
elisafreschi.bsky.social
Wisconsin-Madison conference:
The submission portal for the 53rd Annual Conference on South Asia will open on Saturday, February 1, 2025, for all proposal types. The theme for this year's conference is Inequality. The 53rd ACSA is scheduled to meet in-person, October 22-25, 2025 (Wed-Sat).
1/
February 4, 2025 at 12:52 AM
Reposted by Ariana Maki
andrewquintman.bsky.social
Excited to see treasuryoflives.bsky.social on Bluesky! For anyone interested in Tibetan/Himalayan Studies, this is an indispensable resource.

treasuryoflives.org
The Treasury of Lives: A Biographical Encyclopedia of Tibet, Inner Asia and the Himalayan Region
The Treasury of Lives is a biographical encyclopedia of Tibet, Inner Asia, and the Himalaya. Most biographies are peer reviewed.
treasuryoflives.org
January 31, 2025 at 5:22 PM