Tibet; Tibetan art history; Taranatha; Takden Phuntsokling; 'Og min lha khang; Akaniṣṭha Shrine; absorption; visionary experience; Kalacakra
摘要
This essay argues that the design strategies of the murals in the Akaniṣṭha Shrine, the top-floor shrine at Tāranātha’s Takden Phuntsokling, were intended to provoke in the viewer a type of absorption compatible with Tibetan Buddhist values. This would have been in line with contemporaneous recognition of the potential for consecrated works of art to provide direct contact with the deity depicted. By eliminating framing and boundaries between scenes, minimizing inscriptions, employing the gaze to foster internal and external coherence, and using detailing, highlighting, and a painterly illusion of proximity, the murals invite the beholder to engage with an aesthetic of presence.
目次
ABSTRACT 143 KEYWORDS 143 Background of Takden Phuntsokling Monastery and Its Art 144 Murals in the Akaniṣṭha Shrine 146 The Viewer's Experience of the Akaniṣṭha Shrine 154 Coherence, Order, and Integration in the Akaniṣṭha Shrine Murals 167 The Tibetan Buddhist Context for Visual Absorption 171 Conclusion 175 Coda 176
