- The Holding of Pictures from the Tibetan and Mongolian collections -

Collections of Tibetan and Mongolian manuscripts and block prints are supplied with the holding of pictures formed mostly from acquisitions made during the 1930s through 1950s. The majority are pieces of Buddhist art created in the territory of Buryatia, which provenance is shown by their style. However, the iconographic technique, structure (both artistic and material) of icons, and their contents are in harmony with Tibetan patterns, primarily the Sino-Tibetan (or ‘International’) school of iconography developed by the Dge lugs pa Sect. Due to the absence of any documents concerning the obtaining of the bulk of the pictures it is impossible to ascertain for sure the place in which they were produced. It is quite probable that some icons have Tibetan, Mongolian, Chinese, or Kalmykian origin.

The greatest part of the holding is composed of icons of two types such as thang ka and tsa ka li. Icons of the first type are standard painted scrolls that hang in temples and on altars, they are usually framed with cloth, although in our collection there are about 300 icons that do not have such a frame. Icons of the second type are miniature cards used for various rituals such as rites of empowerment, etc. Figures painted are usually most popular such as the Buddha Śākyamuni, Tārā, Avalokiteśvara, Mahākāla, Śrī Devi (Dpal ldan lha mo), Yamāntaka and other deities. But sometimes less known deities can be found such as Ta’og seng zhon, a special protector of Sera Monastery.

There are also considerable numbers of protecting circles and other tantric ritualistic, as well as astrological and medical pictures.

By late 2010, more than 1,600 items had been numbered. In 2009, a digital Catalogue of thang ka and tsa ka li icons from the IOM’s collection was compiled the project being supported by the Grant of the President of the Russian Federation.

The optimization of preservation and restoration of items kept at the holding are also important aspects of the work which goes ahead in cooperation with the IOM’s conservators, L.I. Kriakina and T.F. Yakovleva.

The processing of tsa ka li icons (conservator T.F. Yakovleva)