Image: Tsapa Namgyal - The Teacher and Philosopher Nagarjuna - Walters 543008

Description: This image was commissioned by a senior monk ("lochen"), and it was made by Tsapa Namgyal, whom the inscription may characterize as an assistant sculptor. The artist is otherwise unknown, nor do we know who the donor was. Several Nagarjunas are familiar in the Indo-Tibetan tradition, the earliest and the most important being the one who flourished in India in the second century. He is regarded as the chief proponent of the Madhyamika school of Buddhist philosophy and the virtual founder of Mahayana Buddhism. However, at least two other major figures of Vajrayana Buddhism, who lived successively in the 10th and 11th centuries, are also known as Nagarjuna. The 11th-century Nagarjuna was an important mahasiddha (see Dowman 1985, pp. 112-22). Both the philosopher and the tantric teacher are given the same iconographic features.
Title: The Teacher and Philosopher Nagarjuna
Credit: Walters Art Museum: Home page  Info about artwork
Author: Tsapa Namgyal
Permission:   This work is free and may be used by anyone for any purpose. If you wish to use this content, you do not need to request permission as long as you follow any licensing requirements mentioned on this page. Wikimedia has received an e-mail confirming that the copyright holder has approved publication under the terms mentioned on this page. This correspondence has been reviewed by an OTRS member and stored in our permission archive. The correspondence is available to trusted volunteers as ticket #2012021710000834. If you have questions about the archived correspondence, please use the OTRS noticeboard. Ticket link: https://ticket.wikimedia.org/otrs/index.pl?Action=AgentTicketZoom&TicketNumber=2012021710000834
Usage Terms: Public domain
License: Public domain
Attribution Required?: No