The Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room

Exhibition Website

Nov 17 2017 - Sep 16 2019

Rubin Museum of Art

New York City, NY

Since it first opened, the Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room has been one of the most popular installations at the Rubin Museum, providing an immersive experience inspired by a traditional shrine.​

Art and ritual objects are displayed as they would in an elaborate private household shrine, a space used for offerings, devotional prayer, rituals, and contemplation. The design of the Shrine Room showcases these objects while incorporating elements of traditional Tibetan architecture and the color schemes of Tibetan homes.

For Museum visitors, this richly detailed, immersive installation provides an oasis for peaceful contemplation at the heart of the Rubin Museum.

Inside the Shrine Room

Scroll paintings known as thangkas, sculptures, ritual items, and musical instruments are arranged on traditional Tibetan furniture according to the hierarchy they assume in Tibetan Buddhist practices. The objects, such as vajras and bells, offering bowls, pitchers, and ritual mandalas are used in daily rituals and offerings along with handheld drums, conch trumpets, horns, and reeds. Ornamental textile decorations of brocade silk, made by traditional masters of appliqué craft, hung from the ceiling and on pillars, are also an integral part of a traditional shine room’s adornment. The Rubin’s Shrine Room is complete with simulated flickering butter lamps, recordings of Tibetan monks and nuns chanting prayers, and the subtle smell of incense, which is used during religious practices.

The Sakya Tradition Shrine Room

The installation rotates every two years to highlight each of the four major Tibetan religious traditions. The current display focuses on the Sakya Buddhist tradition. Each Tibetan tradition traces its lineage to the main teachers who passed their learned knowledge and authentic practices to their students. Sakya Pandita is one of the most recognizable main teachers of the Sakya tradition, and Hevajra and Vajrayogini are among the main tantric deities. They all appear here in thangkas and sculptures.

The installation is accompanied by an interactive touch screen with a virtual tour of the Shrine Room. The tour features select paintings, sculptures, and ritual items on loan to the Museum as well as objects from the Rubin Museum’s collection that focus on the Sakya tradition’s deities, teachers, and related practices.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website

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