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Wikimedia Commons · Public domain · Hover to magnify, click for fullscreen
Original fileTsongkhapa (1357-1419) as Itinerant Teacher, Temple Restorer, Tibet, 18th-19th century
Tsongkhapa sits centrally, wearing the yellow pandita hat characteristic of his school and vibrant saffron robes, with his hands in the dharmachakra mudra. He holds the stems of two lotus flowers that bloom at his shoulders, supporting a sword and a book, symbols of Manjushri, whom he is considered an emanation of. The surrounding landscape is filled with smaller vignettes of monks in various settings—studying in libraries, teaching in temple courtyards, and engaging in ritual debate—rendered in bright, traditional mineral pigments against stylized clouds and mountain formations.
This thangka depicts the foundational narratives of the Gelugpa tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, emphasizing Tsongkhapa's role as both a scholar-monk and the restorer of monastic discipline. It serves as an instructional tool for practitioners to visualize the lineage of teachings that culminated in the 15th-century reforms of Tibetan monasticism.
Tsongkhapa
The central figure represents the historical Tibetan philosopher and founder of the Gelug school.
Lamrim Chenmo
This text, the 'Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path', represents the core philosophical contribution of Tsongkhapa depicted in the painting.
Object
thangka
silk
18th-19th century
Tibetan
religious
Digital Source
Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
491 × 640 px
Linked Data
AI AI-cataloged fields generated by gemini-3.1-flash-lite-preview on April 20, 2026. Getty identifiers are AI-inferred and may require verification.