Abstract

The monastery of Tabo (Spiti valley, Himachal Pradesh) was founded in the year 996 under the reign of the royal lama Ye shes 'od. During the first artistic phase a hitherto unidentified goddess has been installed as tutelary deity of the main temple above the entry door to the assembly hall. Although the mural’s main image is heavily water damaged, its iconographic setting is still observable. It finds its direct counterpart in the image of the royal founder, which has been depicted during the same artistic phase and testifies the important religio-political status of this female deity. Furthermore, as it will be discussed in this presentation, this setting finds its artistic parallels in several artifacts, textiles and temple banners, excavated in the central Asian cultural sphere.