Sixteenth-century wall paintings in a Buddhist temple in the Tibetan cultural zone of northwest India are the focus of this innovative and richly illustrated study. Initially shaped by one set of religious beliefs, the paintings have since been reinterpreted and retraced by a later Buddhist community, subsumed within its religious framework and communal memory. Melissa Kerin traces the devotional, political, and artistic histories that have influenced the paintings' production and reception over the centuries of their use. Her interdisciplinary approach combines art historical methods with inscriptional translation, ethnographic documentation, and theoretical inquiry to understand religious images in context. Introduction Notes
Technical Notes
1. Nako?s Socio-Political History and Artistic Heritage
2. Forgetting to Remember: Gyapagpa Temple?s Shifting Identity
3. Mapping Drigung Activity in Nako and the Western Himalaya
4. Gyapagpa?s Painting Style and its Antecendents
5. Origin and Meaning of a Renascent Painting Tradition
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index