Kat.No. 62
Bon po deity Tsewang Rigzin (Tshe dbang rig ’dzin)
19th century CE
Tradition: Bon
Tibet: Amdo (?), East Tibet
Tucci received this thangka in Lippa, Kinnaur, Himachal Pradesh, India in 1931
Pigments with a water miscible binder on cloth,
60 x 43 cm (with cloth frame? 126 x 90 cm)
MNAO, inv. 922/755
Published in Tucci (1949b: no. 120, pl. 155, p.553–54); Lo Bue (1983: no. 25, pp. 50–51)

Tucci was given this thangka in Lippa, Kinnaur in 1931 by Namkha Jigme Dorje (Nam mkha’ ’jigs med rdo rje), who was first educated in the Bon tradition but then became a Nyingma Buddhist Master of the Dzogchen (rdzogs chen) tradition. He obtained the thangka in Western Tibet. Tucci says he was “one of the most cultivated men I met in Tibet”. (1949b: p. 554). In 1935 Tucci met in Gartok, Tibet a very famous Dzogchen Master from Kham who was a companion of Namkha Jigme Dorje, at that time still said to be living in Kinnaur (Tucci and Ghersi 1935, reprint 1996: pp. 148–49). This small story demonstrates how widely networked the Tibetansname | nametibtrans | namtib were despite the extraordinarily difficult terrain and how successfully Tucci fit himself into this network of distinguished Tibetans. This thangka is dedicated to the Bon Long Life deity Tsewang Rigzin (Tshe dbang rig ’dzin), who is considered to be a siddha in the Bon po tradition (A). The distribution of space is constructed around the Pentad as in Vajrayāna Buddhism.FN1 Tucci (1949b: p. 554) draws attention to the relationship between the Buddhist Amitāyus (e.g. cat. 46) and the Bon deity Tsewang Rigzin. Dating to the late 19th century, the Bon painting derives some of its compositional and iconographic principles from the Nying ma Nyingma Buddhist tradition. The main deity is frontally represented on the central axis and larger than all other figures in the composition. At the very highest plane and at the centre on the axis is the supreme deity of this particular pantheon, in this case Bon Ku Kuntu Sangpo (Bon sku Kun tu bzang po) (3), and at the lowest level at the centre are the protector deities (skyong). In the Yoga Tantra system of Buddhism, the Jina Vairocana, who is associated with the colour white, is placed in the centre and the other four Jina Buddhas of the Pentad surround him. The following schema is the one followed by Tucci (1949b: p. 554) who received the explanation from the lama who gave him the painting. The colours of the Bon Pentad are the same as in Buddhism, but their symbolic function is different. The names of the families in the Bon Pentad at least in three cases do not exist in Buddhism: Sword, green; Swastika, yellow; Wheel, white. Two families exist in Buddhism, but the colours associated with them are different than here, Gem family is blue; and Lotus family is red. The name of at least one deity in each “family” is indicated in their name, and of course, their colours appear in the painting according to the textual description. At the centre we have two forms of Tsewang Rigdzin (A). The main figure holds an “A” in his right hand and in his left hand he holds a left turning swastika. To his proper left is the yab yum form Tsewang Böyülma (Tse dbang bod yul ma) who is red (6a); his consort Tsewang Gyagarma (Tse dbang rgya gar ma) is rose/red (6b). The five animals located on the throne of Tsewang Böyülma are dragon, bird, lion, elephant, and horse.FN2 Red is also the colour of Amitāyus, one of the most important Long Life deities in Vajrayāna, who belongs to the family of Amitābha.

Around the central figure (A) other Bon deities are ordered, according to the Bon Pentad. So that we have, beginning from the deity’s upper right, the Gem Family which is blue: a female deity (1), Rinchen Tsewang (Rin chen Tshe dbang), Sangwa Düpa (gSang bad us pa) (2), Bon Ku Kuntu Sangpo (Bon sku Kun tu bzang po ) (3),FN3 Drenpa Namkha (Dran pa nam mkha’) (4). Next to him begins the Padma family, which is red: the female deity (5) Pema Tsewang (Pad ma tshe dbang), then the yab yum form already discussed (6a & 6b) and below them the consort (represented alone) Khandro Thugje Kundrol (mKha’ drothugs rjes kun sgrol) (7) (Tucci had misplaced this latter goddes). Below them, in the lower corner, is the Sword Family in green, with the goddess (8), Ralthri Tsewang (Ral khri tshe dbang). On the proper lower right corner the Swastika Family in yellow, with the goddess (11) Yungdrung Rigkyi Tsewang (gYung drung rigs kyi she dbang), and above her a lama whom I have not been able to identify (13). The next and last deity of the Pentad is in the Family of the Chakra, in white, with Khorlo Rigkyi Tsewang (’Khor lo rigs kyi tshe dbang) at the centre bottom (12), as also positioned in the Buddhist compositional strategy are the two protector figures: Bonkyong Abse Gyalwa (Bon skyong Abse rgyal ba) [Torma: https://whav.aussereurop.univie.ac.at/ic/7099/] (9) and Bonkyong Rinchen Gyatso (Bon skyong Rin chen rgya mtsho) (10). Tucci thought that the painting came from East Tibet although it was originally obtained in Western Tibet and given to Tucci in Kinnaur in Himachal Pradesh (in ancient times part of West Tibet). The very bright colours and the figure style, as well as the manner of treating the landscape, speak for a date in the late 19th century. I tentatively suggest that it was painted in Amdo. We notice the heart-shaped face with an exaggerated point on the forehead, pinched small mouth, rounded chin. Another distinctive feature is the sharply pointed slightly tipped white mountains, also found in some paintings from the Bon Amdo tradition in the 18th/19th century. It should be noted that mountains play an important role in Bon mythology and also often in paintings representing the six mountains, as places of pilgrimage.FN4 The very few surviving early examples of Bon iconography and painting suggest a highly individualized indigenous iconographic and stylistic repertoire rooted in Tibetan tradition, and totally distinct from Indic religious traditions. On the other hand the contemporary Bon artistic production (Yundrung Bon) is seen by most scholars as a variant of the Tibetan Buddhist visual tradition. In the instance of the Long Life deities, both Bon and Buddhist, the visual image is meant as a support for meditation, but is also a votive offering to secure the efficacy of the ritual for the person for whom the long life ritual is performed that is associated with the iconographic cycle depicted in the thangka.FN5 1: For an extended essay dealing with sacred geography and this deity, cf. Charles Ramble, in Karmay and Watt 2007, p. 135 passim. 2: For a slightly different order in another painting, cf. Selig Brown, in Linrothe 2006, p. 385. 3: The name means Bon Samantabhadra (a Buddhist deity with the same function). 4: The sharply-pointed white mountains are occasionally also found in Mongolian painting, but the style seems more appropriate to the Bon painting tradition of Amdo. 5: I thank Khenpo Tenpa Yundrung Rinpoche, Abbot of Triten Norbutse Monastery in Nepal, and Shenten Dargye Ling in France, and Lama Yangon Sherab Tenzin, a Master of the Bon Dzogchen tradition, and the Abbot of Samling Monastery in Dolpo province, Nepal for patiently answering my questions about Bon iconography.