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Chapter 4
The Tibetan Himalayan Style: Considering the
Central Asian Connection
Linda Lojda, Deborah Klimburg-Salter and Monica Strinu
1 Introduction
This paper explores the genesis and evolution of the Tibetan Himalayan Style,
and most particularly its Central Asian origins. Earlier studies have concen-
trated on defining this style as it was used in the Western borderlands of the
Yarlung Empire (c. 600–842). This paper expands the discussion primarily to
Central Asia but also to Central Tibet in order to understand the distinctive
socio-political contexts in which this style appears—and disappears. Theories
of cultural transfer provide an interpretive framework within which we can
understand the evolution of this style and its various functions from the last
phase of the Yarlung Dynasty through the initial period of expansion and
centralisation of the Kingdom of Purang-Guge from the ninth to mid-eleventh
century. It was precisely during the period of political fragmentation that the
cultural diversity of the region flourished.
Contemporary written historical documentation for this region and time
period is minimal. The only monument associated with primary historical
information is Tabo monastery. Some fragmentary historical information
can be gleaned from rock inscriptions associated with Buddhist imagery. But
there are no secure dates for any monument except Tabo. Therefore all the
dates proposed for all other paintings and sculptures represent at best a rela-
tive chronology. The paintings and sculptures of Tabo monastery provide the
only historical benchmark, while the written sources from Central Asia, which
have recently been the subject of important scholarly research, can be used to
understand the broader cultural and political contours within which this style
developed. However, the single largest body of primary documentation for the
culture of the period is the art and architecture. Therefore, using a comparative
art historical method we will examine the evidence for relationships between
the Buddhist arts of this region and Central Asia and consider to what degree
these distinctive artistic forms were influenced by contemporaneous visual
media from Central Tibet.
