Category: Butter Sculpture
34th Kagyu Monlam Torma-making
In February 2017 the Kagyu Monlam torma artists were creating their artworks. Enjoy the slideshow:
2016 North American Kagyu Monlam Tormas
According to the 2016 North American Kagyu Monlam website: “The chöpöns who have kindly come to Kagyu Thubten Chöling include Karma Wangchuk, a master artist from Rumtek Monastery, seat of the sixteenth Karmapa; and Karma Samten, who was trained at Dilyak Monastery in Nepal.… Continue Reading “2016 North American Kagyu Monlam Tormas”
Karmapa on the significance of the tormas created for the 26th Kagyu Monlam
Here is a video montage featuring excerpts of a talk by His Holiness, the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa, in which he explained the significance of the tormas created for the 26th Kagyu Monlam (filmed in Bodhgaya, India in 2009). The text below is followed by… Continue Reading “Karmapa on the significance of the tormas created for the 26th Kagyu Monlam”
A Dazzling Visual Feast of Butter Sculpture Celebrates the Kalachakra Teachings and Empowerment in Bodhgaya, India
The amazing butter sculptures displayed below were created by the Gyuto and Gyudmed monks for the Kalachakra teachings and initiation currently taking place in Bodhgaya. They depict the Seventeen Nalanda Masters: Nagarjuna, Aryadeva, Buddhapalita, Bhavaviveka, Chandrakirti, Shantideva, Shantarakshita, Kamalashila, Asanga, Vasubandhu, Dignaga, Dharmakirti, Arya… Continue Reading “A Dazzling Visual Feast of Butter Sculpture Celebrates the Kalachakra Teachings and Empowerment in Bodhgaya, India”
The Roots of American Butter Sculpture
from Wikipedia: The earliest butter sculpture in the modern sense (as public art and not a banquet centerpiece) can be traced to the 1876 Centennial Exhibition where Caroline Shawk Brooks, a farm woman from Helena, Arkansas, displayed her Dreaming Iolanthe, a basrelief bust of a woman modeled in butter.[1] It was… Continue Reading “The Roots of American Butter Sculpture”
Wax Butter Color Palette
This clip shows the color palette used by one of the torma artists working in Bodhgaya on the Kagyu Monlam tormas.
Amchok Metok Gyens and the Nuns who Made Them
Amchok Metok is the name of a particularly beautiful decoration that looks like a flower and is used on the large butter sculptures that grace the shrine during the International Kagyu Monlam. Metok means flower and Amchok perhaps refers to the region of Tibet where this type of flower… Continue Reading “Amchok Metok Gyens and the Nuns who Made Them”
Tormas at Gyuto Monastery: the Gelukpa Tradition
Today at Gyuto Monastery the Gelukpa monks were preparing tormas for a special three day puja called Jang Kar that starts tomorrow. Their tormas are quite different from the Kagyu tradition’s tormas. See gallery below:
The Tormas and Other Offerings at the 28th Kagyu Monlam
A special report by Michele Martin Check out a detailed and very interesting report on this year’s Kagyu Monlam Butter Sculptures by Michele Martin, complete with slide show, photos and diagrams. Enjoy! http://www.kagyumonlam.org/english/news/Report/Report_20101223_Tormas.html
tormafilm.com 