by: Jörg Heimbel

Visually Recording the Ngor Tradition’s Spiritual Heritage: An Overview of the Renowned Lamdre Lineage Set in Over Thirty Paintings

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Recently, I contributed a description of a thangka painting depicting Jetsün Drakpa Gyeltsen (rJe btsun Grags pa rgyal mtshan, 1147–1216; Fig. 1) from one of the most renowned and extensive sets of lineage paintings in Tibetan sacred art.1 Consisting of over thirty pieces, this set depicts the successive masters of the Lamdre (Lam ’bras) or Path with Its Fruit instructions, as transmitted in the Ngor tradition—one of the main branches of the Sakya school. Unlike other Ngor Lamdre sets, which typically depict two, three or four lineage masters as central figures (in partial profile) on each painting, this set portrays each master individually (and facing straight ahead). This distinctive approach explains the unusually large number of paintings and suggests that the set must have been commissioned by a very wealthy patron. The set also serves as an important historical and visual record, capturing the transmission lineages of the most significant teachings of the Ngor tradition at the time of its creation—all of which were transmitted through the founder of Ngor monastery, the great tantric expert, Ngorchen Künga Zangpo (Ngor chen Kun dga’ bzang po, 1382–1456). In the case of the Lamdre, the lineage is represented by the central figures of the set’s individual paintings, while the secondary figures surrounding each central figure in the top row and side columns represent the other teaching lineages.

While writing my description, I noticed an important inscription on the top left of the brocade mount at the back of the painting. This inscription indicates where the painting had to be hung when the entire set was on display. As this inscription is also found on other paintings of the set, I will discuss it as part of this blog post. I will also provide an overview of the entire set, drawing on the unpublished research of the late David Jackson, which he kindly shared with me for my own research. Please accept my apologies for reusing and adapting some of the following text from my above-mentioned contribution to this blog entry.

Inscriptions

The paintings of the set feature different types of inscriptions on the front and back. There are two types of inscription on the front that enable the major and minor figures to be identified. The first type is written in golden letters within the red bottom cartouche and begins with an invocation prayer for the main figure. Consisting of one verse, this type of inscription either mentions the name of the master to whom the prayer is addressed in the final verse line, or interweaves the syllables of the master’s name across two or more verse lines. This prayer is followed by an homage to the lineage of the surrounding minor figures, ending with a prayer requesting their spiritual assistance. The second type of inscription are small labels or captions bearing the names of most of the depicted minor figures. These are written next to the relevant lineage masters or deities they represent, ending with a formular of homage.

The back of the painting bears various inscriptions, including the ye dharmā verse on dependent origination from the Pratītyasamutpādahṛdaya (followed by verses from the Prātimokṣasūtra) and various mantras. A specific inscription on the top left of the brocade mount is crucial for clarifying the painting’s position within the set and determining where it should be hung. It is therefore also an important source of information for understanding the general composition of the entire set and how the individual paintings were spatially arranged for display. This type of inscription highlights the importance of carefully checking old, worn-down brocades for inscriptions before possibly discarding them.

I was able to directly access this type of inscription for three paintings from the set directly:

  • Jetsün Drakpa Gyeltsen (rJe btsun Grags pa rgyal mtshan, 1147–1216; Fig. 1)
  • Könchok Pelwa (dKon mchog ’phel ba, 1445–1514; Fig. 2), the 7th abbot of Ngor
  • Sanggye Rinchen (Sangs rgyas rin chen, 1453–1524; Fig. 3), the 8th abbot of Ngor
Fig. 1. After Bonhams 2025Fig. 2. After The MET 37816Fig. 3. After The MET 37817

Inscriptions in Tibetan (all abbreviations resolved):

པ་ གཡོན་དྲུག་པ་གྲགས་པ་རྒྱལ་མཚན།
ཤ་ གཡོན་བཅུ་གསུམ་པ་དཀོན་མཆོག་འཕེལ་བ།
ས་གཡས་བཅུ་བཞི་པ་སངས་རྒྱས་རིན་ཆེན་པ།

Fig. 4. Detail of the back of Fig. 1Fig. 5. Detail of the back of Fig. 2Fig. 6. Detail of the back of Fig. 3

Inscriptions in Transliteration (all abbreviations resolved):

pa  g.yon drug pa grags pa rgyal mtshan|
sha  g.yon bcu gsum pa dkon mchog ’phel|
sa g.yas bcu bzhi pa sangs rgyas rin chen pa|

Inscriptions in Translation:

Number 13, the 6th [painting] on the left, Drakpa Gyeltsen.
Number 27, the 13th [painting] on the left, Könchok Phelwa.
Number 28, the 14th [painting] on the right, Sanggye Rinchenpa.

The inscriptions begin with a letter from the Tibetan alphabet to indicate the number of the painting in the set. They then specify the position in which the painting should be hung to the proper right or left of the central, first painting of the set, which presumably depicts Vajradhara, the original teacher of the Lamdre instructions. Finally, the inscriptions identify the main figure depicted in the painting by name. The position of the main figure in the lineage corresponds to the number of the painting in the set.

David Jackson recorded the inscriptions for seven paintings, but had not yet noticed the meaning of the first syllable. As the backs of the paintings are currently inaccessible, I am providing the inscriptions according to David’s notes. The seven paintings depict the following Tibetan masters as their main figures:

  • Loppön Sönam Tsemo (Slob dpon bSod nams rtse mo, 1142–1182)
  • Sakya Paṇḍita Künga Gyeltsen (Sa skya Paṇḍita Kun dga’ rgyal mtshan, 1182–1251)
  • Zhang Könchok Pel (Zhang dKon mchog dpal, 1240/50–1307/17)
  • Buddhaśrī (1339–1419)
  • Ngorchen Künga Zangpo (Ngor chen Kun dga’ bzang po, 1382–1456). the founder and 1st abbot of Ngor
  • Müchen Könchok Gyeltsen (Mus chen dKon mchog rgyal mtshan, 1388–1469), the 2nd abbot of Ngor
  • Gorampa Sönam Sengge (Go rams pa bSod nams seng ge, 1429–1489), the 6th abbot of Ngor

In some cases, the initial syllable, which consiss of a letter from the Tibetan alphabet indicating the number of the painting in the set, was not recorded by David. I have reconstructed this letter and marked it in orange in the list below. Following the convention of the first two inscriptions recorded above, I also added an empty space between the initial syllable and subsequent ones.

Inscriptions in Tibetan

ན་ གཡས་དྲུག་པ་བསོད་ནམས་རྩེ་མོ།
ཕ་ གཡས་བདུན་པ་ས་པཎ།
མ་ གཡས་བརྒྱད་པ་དཀོན་དཔལ།
ཝ་ གཡས་བཅུ་པ་བུདྡྷ་ཤྲཱི།
ཞ་ གཡོན་བཅུ་པ་ཀུན་དགའ་བཟང་པོ།
ཟ་ གཡས་བཅུ་གཅིག་པ་དཀོན་རྒྱལ་མཚན་པ།
ལ་ གཡས་བཅུ་གསུམ་པ་བསོད་ནམས་སེང་གེ།

Inscriptions in Transliteration

na  g.yas drug pa bsod nams rtse mo|
pha  g.yas bdun pa sa paṇ|
ma  g.yas brgyad pa dkon dpal|
wa  g.yas bcu pa buddha shrī|
zha  g.yon bcu pa kun dga’ bzang po|
za  g.yas bcu gcig pa dkon rgyal mtshan pa|
la  g.yas bcu gsum pa bsod nams seng ge|

Inscriptions in Translation

Number 12, the 6th [painting] on the right, Sönam Tsemo.
Number 14, the 7th [painting] on the right, Sapaṇ.
Number 16, the 8th [painting] on the right, Könpel.
Number 20, the 10th [painting] on the right Buddhaśrī.
Number 21, the 10th [painting] on the left, Künga Zangpo.
Number 22, the 11th [painting] on the right, Kön Gyeltshanpa.
Number 26, the 13th [painting] on the right, Sönam Sengge.

The complete set of over 30 paintings reached New York in the early 1960s. It was subsequently divided, with the individual paintings now in private and museum collections worldwide. Commissioned in the late 16th or early 17th century, the set is painted in a late Newari-influenced Beri style. The last known painting of the set, number 34, depicts Drangti Penchen Namkha Pelzang (Brang ti Paṇ chen Nam mkha’ dpal bzang, 1535–1602), the 13th abbot of Ngor, as its main figure. The dating to the late 16th or early 17th century is further suggested by the observation that several of the lineages surrounding the main figures in the individual paintings of the set end with Ngor abbots such as Könchok Lhündrup (dKon mchog lhun grub, 1497–1557), the 10th abbot of Ngor, or Drangti Penchen, who was one of only a few Ngor masters who hold the throne twice. Alternating with his predecessor, Könchok Penden (dKon mchog dpal ldan, 1526–1590), the 12th abbot of Ngor (two tenures: 1569–1579 and 1582/83–1590), Drangti Penchen first served as abbot from 1579–1582/83, and again from 1590–1595. Assuming that his depiction is the set’s last painting, it is reasonable to assume that the set was commissioned during or after either of his two tenures or not long after his death in 1602.

The final eleven known paintings of the set depict successive abbots of Ngor as their main figures, surrounded by teacher lineages that also culminate in Ngor abbots. Consequently, the set can be conclusively attributed to the Ngor branch of the Sakya school. Given the high quality of the paintings, the set most likely originates from Ngor itself. Among connoisseurs and researchers of Buddhist sacred art, the monastery of Ngor—founded by Ngorchen Künga Zangpo in the south-eastern part of Tsang province of central Tibet in 1429—is best known for thangka paintings commissioned, to a large degree, in the Newari-influenced painting style, as well as for its eclectic collection of metal sculptures. Beginning with Ngorchen’s own commissions, the Lamdre lineage masters were regularly depicted in paintings and statues. Moreover, these commissions were either completed as sets or as individual pieces. Individual pieces depicted the last generation of abbots and were made to supplement an earlier set, bringing the depicted lineage up to the date of commission. Both kinds of commission were usually carried out after the death of an incumbent or retired Ngor abbot as part of his funerary ceremonies and can thus be considered a funerary commission.

Unfortunately, none of the paintings of the set bear inscriptions identifying the patron who commissioned them or clarifying their intended purpose, specifically, whether they were created as a funerary commission, and, if so, for which Ngor abbot. Moreover, although there are references to commissions of Lamdre lineage master sets in Ngor abbot biographies from around the same period, the discrepancies in the written descriptions of the number of paintings and their specific stylistic features make it difficult to identify the current set with any of these commissions. Without more concrete evidence, the patron’s identity remains unresolved.

Overview of the Set

Of the thirty-four paintings believed to comprise the set, twenty-seven have been located in private and museum collections worldwide. Although individual paintings have been studied since the 1960s, a comprehensive study of the entire set remains a desideratum. Such a study is essential for a fuller understanding of the iconographic programme and historical context of the set as a whole.

The list below is intended as a first step towards achieving this goal. It presents a reconstruction that identifies (1) the main figure of each painting, (2) the position of the master represented by this figure in the depicted Lamdre lineage, and therefore the position of each painting within the set, (3) the spatial arrangement of the set, clarifying where each painting was to be hung from the perspective of the central, first painting depicting Vajradhara, and (4) the secondary lineages surrounding each central figure. The seven paintings that remain unlocated are indicated in italics.

  1. Vajradhara, middle
  2. Nairātmyā, 1st to the right, with the lineage of the “Inconceivable Instructions”of Kuddāla (bSam mi khyab kyi man ngag; one of the Nine Cycles of the Path, of which the Lamdre constitutes the first. The remaining eight cycles have traditionally been transmitted in the Sakya tradition when the Lamdre is given.)
  3. Virūpa, 1st to the left, with the lineage of “Realizing Coemergence” of Ḍombi Heruka (lHan cig skyes grub; one of the Nine Cycles of the Path)
  4. Eastern Kāṇha, 2nd to the right, with the lineage of the “Straightening the Crooked Instructions” of Kṛṣṇa Utsiṭa (Yon po bsrang ba’i man ngag; one of the Nine Cycles of the Path)
  5. Ḍamarupāda, 2nd to the left, with the lineage of the “Complete Path of Fierce Fire” of Kŗṣṇacārin (gTum mo lam rdzogs; one of the Nine Cycles of the Path)
  6. Avadhūtipa, 3rd to the right, with the lineage of the “Perfection Stage, Like the Tip of a Lamp Flame” of Padmavajra known as Saroruhavajra (rDzogs rims mar me’i rtse mo; one of the Nine Cycles of the Path)
  7. Gayādhara (d. 1103), 3rd to the left, with the lineage of “Received in Front of a Stūpa” (mChod rten drung thob; one of the Nine Cycles of the Path)
  8. Drokmi Lotsāwa Śākya Yeshe (’Brog mi Lo tsā ba Shākya Ye shes, 993–1060s/70s), 4th to the right, most likely with the lineage of  the “The Unwritten Mahāmudrā” (Phyag rgya chen po yi ge med pa), one of the Nine Cycles of the Path)
  9. Setön Künrik (Se ston Kun rig, ca. 1025/29–1116/22), 4th to the left, with the lineage of the “Path of Indrabhūti” (Indra bhū ti’i lam, one of the Nine Cycles of the Path)
  10. Zhangtön Chöbar (Zhang ston Chos ’bar, 1053–1135), 5th to the right
  11. Sachen Künga Nyingpo (Sa chen Kun dga’ snying po, 1092–1158), 5th to the left, with the lineage of Hevajra in the tradition of Ḍombhi Heruka, also known as the “Commentarial System” (’Grel pa lugs) of Hevajra
  12. Loppön Sönam Tsemo (Slob dpon bSod nams rtse mo, 1142–1182), 6th to the right, with the lineage of Hevajra in the tradition of Saroruhavajra
  13. Jetsün Drakpa Gyeltsen (rJe btsun Grags pa rgyal mtshan, 1147–1216), 6th to the left, with the lineage of Hevajra in the tradition of Kṛṣṇasamayavajra
  14. Sakya Paṇḍita Künga Gyeltsen (Sa skya Paṇḍita Kun dga’ rgyal mtshan, 1182–1251), 7th to the right, with the lineage of the initiation for the Venerable Lady Nairātmyā
  15. Chögyel Pakpa Lodrö Gyeltsen (Chos rgyal ’Phags pa Blo gros rgyal mtshan, 1235–1280), 7th to the left, with the lineage of the initiation of the Condensed Family of Vajrapañjara
  16. Zhang Könchok Pel (Zhang dKon mchog dpal, 1240/50–1307/17), 8th to the right, with the lineage of the Sampuṭatantra
  17. Nabza Drakpukpa Sönam Pel (Na bza’ Brag phug pa bSod nams dpal, 1277–1350), 8th to the left, with the lineage of Saṃvara in the tradition of Lūhipāda
  18. Lama Dampa Sönam Gyeltsen (Bla ma dam pa bSod nams rgyal mtshan, 1312–1375), 9th to the right, with the lineage of Saṃvara in the tradition of Kṛṣṇacārin
  19. Penden Tsültrim (dPal ldan tshul khrims, 1333–1399), 9th to the left, with the lineage of Saṃvara in the tradition of Ghaṇṭāpāda
  20. Buddhashrī (aka Sangs rgyas dpal, 1339–1419), 10th to the right, with the lineage of Guhyasamāja Akṣobhyavajra
  21. Ngorchen Künga Zangpo (Ngor chen Kun dga’ bzang po, 1382–1456), the 1st abbot of Ngor, 10th to the left, with the lineage of Guhyasamāja Mañjuvajra
  22. Müchen Könchok Gyeltsen (Mus chen dKon mchog rgyal mtshan, 1388–1469), the 2nd abbot of Ngor, 11th to the right, with the lineage of Guhyasamāja Avalokiteśvara
  23. Sherap Gyatso (Shes rab rgya mtsho, 1396–1474), the 3rd abbot of Ngor, 11th to the left
  24. Künga Wangchuk (Kun dga’ dbang phyug, 1424–1478), the 4th abbot of Ngor, 12th to the right, with the lineage of the Sakya tradition of Vajrabhairava
  25. Penden Dorje (dPal ldan rdo rje, 1411–1482), the 5th abbot of Ngor, 12th to the left
  26. Gorampa Sönam Sengge (Go rams pa bSod nams seng ge, 1429–1489), the 6th abbot of Ngor, 13th to the right, with the lineage of Sarvavid Vairocana
  27. Könchok Pelwa (dKon mchog ’phel ba, 1445–1514), the 7th abbot of Ngor, 13th to the left, with the lineage of Amitāyus
  28. Sanggye Rinchen (Sangs rgyas rin chen, 1453–1524), the 8th abbot of Ngor, 14th to the right, with the lineage of the initiations of the Hundred Sādhanas (sGrub thabs brgya rtsa)
  29. Lhachok Sengge (lHa mchog seng ge, 1468–1535), the 9th abbot of Ngor, 14th to the left, with the lineage of the Bodhisattva vows in the Madhyamaka tradition; often misidentified as Rongtön Sheja Künrik (Rong ston Shes bya Kun rig, 1367–1449)2
  30. Könchok Lhündrup (dKon mchog lhun grub, 1497–1557), the 10th abbot of Ngor, 15th to the right
  31. Sanggye Sengge (Sangs rgyas seng ge, 1504–1569), the 11th abbot of Ngor, 15th to the left, with the lineage of Ḍākārṇava
  32. Könchok Penden (dKon mchog dpal ldan, 1526–1590), the 12th abbot of Ngor, 16th to the right
  33. Sherap Gyeltsen (Shes rab rgyal mtshan, 1505–1573), 16th to the left; although the inscription identifies the lineage as the Eight-deity Pañjaranātha Mahākāla initiation, the depicted lineage is actually for the protective deity Putra. Although Sherap Gyeltsen never served as abbot of Ngor, he was a highly important and influential master. Before Könchok Penden was installed as the 12th abbot of Ngor on the third day of the fifth month of 1569, the position had initially been offered to Sherap Gyeltsen, who declined. He did, however, function as acting abbot (mkhan tshab) in 1570, giving the annual Lamdre teachings. He also taught on other occasions when the incumbent abbot was not residing at Ngor. The fact that Sherap Gyeltsen gave the Lamdre in his capacity as acting abbot possibly explains why his portrait was included in the set as a lineage master and why his biography was included among those of the Lamdre lineage masters. Sherap Gyeltsen had previously held various positions in Ngor. Until 1541, he served as dbu mdzad, having been appointed by the order of Lhachok Sengge, the 9th abbot, in 1529. He was appointed tshogs dpon, by the order of Könchok Lhündrup, the 10th abbot, and zur chad pa. After a teaching tour in Kham, he returned to Ngor in 1549, serving as zur chos pa and taking up residence in the Zimkhang Sharkhang (gZims khang Shar khang). He took the title Sharkhangpa (Shar khang pa) from this residence.3
  34. Drangti Penchen Namkha Pelzang (Brang ti Paṇchen Nam mkha’ dpal bzang, 1535–1602), the 13th abbot of Ngor (17th to the right?), inscription of the lineage illegible

Endnotes

  1. See Heimbel 2025b. For images of twenty-three paintings from the set, see HAR. ↩︎
  2. See Heimbel 2025a. ↩︎
  3. See Heimbel 2017: 520, n. 18. ↩︎

Bibliography

Bonhams. 2025. “A Portrait Thangka of the Fifth Sakya Tridzin, Jetsun Dragpa Gyaltsen.” Reverence: Important Himalayan Art from the Collection of Ulrich von Schroeder, Lot 825. Hong Kong, Thursday 30 October 2025 at 6pm.
https://www.bonhams.com/auction/31613/lot/825/a-portrait-thangka-of-the-fifth-sakya-tridzin-jetsun-dragpa-gyaltsen-southern-tibet-ngor-monastery-circa-1600/

HAR = “Subject: Margapala/Lamdre Lineage [1] (Ngor set).” Himalayan Art Resources. https://www.himalayanart.org/search/set.cfm?setID=385&page=1.

Heimbel, Jörg. 2017. Vajradhara in Human Form: The Life and Times of Ngor chen Kun dga’ bzang po. Lumbini: Lumbini International Research Institute.

Heimbel, Jörg. 2025a. “From Rongtön Sheja Künrik to Lhachok Sengge: Correcting a Thangka Attribution.” Notes on Buddhist Art from the Himalayas and Related Topics. https://artnotes.ngorpa.org/1743.

Heimbel, Jörg. 2025b. “Visually Recording the Ngor Tradition’s Spiritual Heritage: A Lamdre Lineage Painting of Jetsün Drakpa Gyeltsen and Its Set.” In Bonhams (ed.), Reverence: Important Himalayan Art from the Collection of Ulrich von Schroeder. Hong Kong: Bonhams, pp. 96–105.

The MET 37816 = The MET. “Yong Zin Khon Shogpel: Seventh Abbot of Ngor Monastary.” Seymour Fund, 1971. Object Number: 1971.189. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/37816.

The MET 37817 = The MET. “Portrait of Munchen Sangye Rinchen, the Eighth Abbot of Ngor Monastery.” Rogers Fund, 1971. Object Number: 1971.176. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/37817.

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