The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of June 7, 2026

A horizontally oriented gum tempera and gold painting on cotton is divided into two registers depicting small figures with medium skin tones. In the top register, figures sit along a winding gray path against a green landscape. Below, they gather within rectangular panels or beside white stupas. Muted reds and blues highlight figures and buildings, while small segments of dark script punctuate the aged, textured surface.

Temple Banner with pilgrimage sites and scenes from the "Svayambhu-purana" (Ancient Text of the Primordial Buddha)

1635

Nepal, Kathmandu Valley

Gum tempera and gold on cotton
Overall: 39 x 130.2 cm (15 3/8 x 51 1/4 in.)
Gift of Mrs. A. S. Ingalls 1954.788
Location: 237 Himalayan

Description

In the upper band, pilgrimage places in and around Nepal’s capital of Kathmandu are mapped and labeled with inscriptions in the Newari language. Below are scenes from the story of a king who ended a drought with the assistance of serpent deities and a Buddhist master. The king rides horseback at the lower left, and the serpent deities are the seated human figures with snake heads behind them. The white vase-shaped monument with pointed top, shown three times, is the Svayambhu Stupa, a sacred monument in Kathmandu dedicated to the Buddha Svayambhu.

Probably half of a complete banner, this piece hung in a monastic courtyard during annual festivals.
  • ?–1954
    Mrs. A. S. [Jane Taft] Ingalls [1874–1962], Cleveland, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1954–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Slusser, Mary Shepherd. “Serpents, Sages, and Sorcerers in Cleveland.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 66, no. 2, 1979, pp. 67–82. Mentioned and Reproduced: figs. 1, 2, 13-18 25159618
  • Himalayan Gallery 237 Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 16, 2026-January 10, 2027).
    Dharma and Pūnya: Buddhist Ritual Art of Nepal. Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Art Gallery, Worcester, MA (organizer) (September 5-December 20, 2019).
    Art of Nepal. The Asia Society Museum, New York, NY (organizer) (May 7-August 30, 1964).
  • {{cite web|title=Temple Banner with pilgrimage sites and scenes from the "Svayambhu-purana" (Ancient Text of the Primordial Buddha)|url=false|author=|year=1635|access-date=07 June 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1954.788