{"id":563,"date":"2025-10-20T11:18:35","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T11:18:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iam.tugraz.at\/research\/skusek\/?p=563"},"modified":"2025-10-22T11:39:33","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T11:39:33","slug":"06_the-different-notions-of-the-buddhist-sculptures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iam.tugraz.at\/research\/skusek\/2025\/10\/20\/06_the-different-notions-of-the-buddhist-sculptures\/","title":{"rendered":"06_The Different Notions of the Buddhist Sculptures"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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On the arrangement of the sculptures on the dresser<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Text by Gerald Kozicz<\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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All documentations of the set of Buddhist figures on the dresser show the wrathful couple Vajrabhairava and Vajravetal\u012b in the centre right, in front of the mirror. (see e.g. Motoh 2021: 132, figs. 10 and 11) Although the other sculptures are shown in changing positions, a certain pattern can be attested.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Close-up shot of the dresser displaying the sculptures during the 2025 exhibition “Asia in the Heart of Ljubljana: The Life of the Sku\u0161ek Collection” at the Slovene Ethnographic Museum, Photograph \u00a9 Max Fr\u00fchwirt 2025<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The central part of the dresser is dedicated primarily to the aggressive deities, while the peaceful deities are placed towards the periphery.<\/p>

The contrast shows a clear preference for the wrathful figures, which are also the visually more impressive. The obvious contrast between wrathful and peaceful however, also reminds us that these two categories would hardly be arranged that way in their original socio-religious context, that is, in an orthodox monastic environment. Vajrabhairava would be the main deity inside a protectors\u2018 chapel (Tib. g\u00f6nkhang), whereas Buddha would be the main deity in an assembly or prayer hall.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Protectors’ chapel (g\u00f6nkhang) of the Diskit Monastery in Ladakh, India, Photograph \u00a9 Gerald Kozicz 2019<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Inside the g\u00f6nkhang, the faces of the wrathful deities would be hidden behind scarves and only made visible to the public during festivals or special rituals (San. p\u016bja) under the supervision of a high lama. Buddha would not be depicted inside a g\u00f6nkhang.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Buddha statue in the prayer hall of Hundar Monastery in Ladakh, India, Photograph \u00a9 Gerald Kozicz 2014<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Vajrabhairava on the wall painting next to the Buddha of Hundar Monastery in Ladakh, India, Photograph \u00a9 Gerald Kozicz 2014<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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If Vajrabhairava would be shown inside a prayer hall, he would be sub-ordinate to Buddha. (Kozicz and Luo 2025: 47, fig. 10) Thus, on first sight, the constellation on the dresser in the private room of the Sku\u0161eks appears like a violation of some fundamental principles. We do, however, not know how private shrine rooms and altars were organised in Tibet and China. But we may still assume that certain rules concerning hierarchy and meaning of order pertained.<\/p>

This is a deviation from the established practise and another aspect we may add to the multi-layered question regarding the intention behind the chosen mode of presentation of the images on the dresser.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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References<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Kozicz, Gerald and Di Luo (2024) \u2018The Adamantine Terrifier on the Dresser\u2019, Poligrafi Vol. 29 no. 115\/116: \u00a0141\u201366. Open access URL https:\/\/ojs.zrs-kp.si\/index.php\/poligrafi\/article\/view\/441\/490<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>

Motoh, Helena (2021) \u2018Lived-in Museum: The Early 20th Century Sku\u0161ek Collection\u2019, Asian Studies 9, no. 3: \u00a0119\u2013140. Open access URL https:\/\/journals.uni-lj.si\/as\/issue\/view\/739<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On the arrangement of the sculptures on the dresser Text by Gerald Kozicz All documentations of the set of Buddhist figures on the dresser show the wrathful couple Vajrabhairava and Vajravetal\u012b in the centre right, in front of the mirror. (see e.g. Motoh 2021: 132, figs. 10 and 11) Although the other sculptures are shown […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":564,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-information"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iam.tugraz.at\/research\/skusek\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iam.tugraz.at\/research\/skusek\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iam.tugraz.at\/research\/skusek\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iam.tugraz.at\/research\/skusek\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iam.tugraz.at\/research\/skusek\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=563"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/iam.tugraz.at\/research\/skusek\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/563\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":607,"href":"https:\/\/iam.tugraz.at\/research\/skusek\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/563\/revisions\/607"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iam.tugraz.at\/research\/skusek\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iam.tugraz.at\/research\/skusek\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iam.tugraz.at\/research\/skusek\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iam.tugraz.at\/research\/skusek\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}