Portrait of the Fifth Tai Situ, Chökyi Gyaltsen

This Tibetan thangka depicts the Fifth Tai Situ wearing the distinctive red 'black hat' (benza) and saffron-colored monastic robes, seated on an ornate throne in a landscape filled with trees, craggy rocks, and a waterfall. His right hand is raised in a teaching gesture, while his left holds a text. Above him, a wrathful deity appears in a cloud of flames, and below, attendants and offerings are arranged on a low table. The lower corners contain two smaller figures: a multi-armed deity on the left and a fierce, dark-skinned wrathful protector on the right.

This portrait honors a major lineage holder of the Karma Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism, reflecting the tradition of hagiographic portraiture used to maintain spiritual transmission. Tai Situ Rinpoches are considered incarnations of the Bodhisattva Maitreya.