Today 10,000 Pages: A Colouring Book of Abstract Line Art reached the 10% mark. Click on an image for a hi-res version for printing. All drawings are released under a Creative Commons Licence. [more inside]
posted by Rinku on Apr 4, 2009 - 10 comments

China's Golden Age.
posted by homunculus on Oct 18, 2008 - 27 comments

Surrendering to the Spirit Vine. Artist Alex Grey (previously) describes his experience with "the champagne of ayahuascas."
posted by homunculus on Sep 24, 2008 - 13 comments

From the Land of the Gods: Art of the Kathmandu Valley. [Via Plep - NY]
posted by homunculus on Jul 17, 2008 - 3 comments

Buddha’s Caves: The Caves of Dunhuang.
posted by homunculus on Jul 6, 2008 - 7 comments

Ancient Buddhist Paintings From Bamiyan Were Made Of Oil, Hundreds Of Years Before Technique Was 'Invented' In Europe. [Via MonkeyFilter.] [more inside]
posted by homunculus on Apr 24, 2008 - 23 comments

Waves on the Turquoise Lake: Contemporary Expressions of Tibetan Art.
posted by homunculus on Dec 28, 2007 - 5 comments

India's Ancient Art. "Fifth-century painters created stunning murals in dim man-made caves. A gifted photographer brings them to light." [more inside]
posted by homunculus on Dec 25, 2007 - 13 comments

Wutaishan: Pilgrimage to Five Peak Mountain.
posted by homunculus on Aug 22, 2007 - 4 comments

Paintings of Buddha dating back at least to the 12th century have been discovered in a cave in Nepal. Tipped by a local shepherd, a team of international researchers climbed to some old caves where they found a mural with 55 panels depicting the life of Buddha, reminiscent of the artwork of the Ajanta Caves in India (possibly NSFW). There are probably many other forgotten caves in the Mustang area (previously discussed here,) but they may be threatened by a planned trans-Himalayan highway.
posted by homunculus on May 13, 2007 - 22 comments

Dunhuang Art. Buddhist cave art and history.
posted by plep on Oct 5, 2004 - 3 comments

Visions of Enlightenment: Understanding the Art of Buddhism.
posted by homunculus on Sep 8, 2004 - 5 comments

Tibetan Buddhist art of Sichuan Province, China.
posted by hama7 on May 8, 2004 - 4 comments

Buddhist Art and the Trade Routes. [Flash, via plep.]
posted by homunculus on May 6, 2004 - 10 comments

A restoration project has been underway since 1998 to restore the 15th-century Tibetan Buddhist monastery wall paintings of Lo Monthang, a city in the kingdom of Mustang in northwest Nepal. The results have been very impressive. Mustang is also home to some amazing cave temples.
posted by homunculus on Dec 27, 2003 - 12 comments

The Tibetan Book of the Dead. Online exhibit.
Related :- Buddhist art and ritual from Nepal and Tibet; photos of Tibet in the 1940s; dissecting the mandala; mandala and temple sacred architecture in Tibet; mandala sand painting; early Tibetan mandalas; Buddhist sculpture and paintings; the Norbulingka Institute.
posted by plep on Aug 11, 2003 - 9 comments

The Lukhang Temple, or "Temple of the Serpent Spirits", sits on an island behind the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet. On the top floor is a formerly secret chamber (now open to the public) which the Dalai Lamas used to retreat to for periods of deep meditation. The walls of the chamber are covered by a series of stunning wall paintings (Flash) which depict the esoteric practices of Tibet's Tantric tradition, a visual representation of the Tibetan Buddhist path to enlightenment. Although there has been some damage to the temple and paintings, they escaped relatively unscathed from the Cultural Revolution. The current Dalai Lama, who was forced to leave Tibet before he was initiated into the practices depicted in the temple, describes it as one of the hidden jewels of Tibetan civilization. It is also the subject of Ian Baker's book, "The Dalai Lama's Secret Temple".
posted by homunculus on Apr 1, 2003 - 10 comments

The International Dunhuang Project, developed jointly by the British Library and the National Library of China, makes thousands manuscripts and paintings from ancient caves and temples along the Silk Road viewable to the public. The artifacts were found in the Dunhuang cave in China in 1900 and dispersed to museums around the world, but now they have been brought together on the web. And if you want some appropriate music to go with it, check out Yo Yo Ma's Silk Road Project.
posted by homunculus on Nov 12, 2002 - 5 comments