Hats in Himalayan Art (Part 2): I Want to Wander Wearing a Hat.

20 de março de 2025

*Lamas in London*, 1924, held by Agence France-Presse.

Facing the camera, the monks maintain their usual solemnity.
The master in the center is wearing a Pandita hat,
while the student monks on either side are wearing tasseled crested hats (སྒྲོ་ལྷུག་མ་).

*Lamas of Yonghe Temple*, 1913, photographed by Stéphane Passet.

As the residence of Mongolian and Tibetan monks in Beijing,
most of the monks at Yonghe Temple hold academic degrees.
Unlike ordinary monks who wear tasseled crested hats,
the monks here typically wear crested hats with gathered tassels (སྒྲོ་བཙེམས་མ་).

Classification of Dharma Hats.

In the first article of the series *The Crown of the Wise: Dharma Hats in Himalayan Art*, we briefly explored the basic meanings and origins of Tibetan Dharma hats. In the next two articles, given the vast variety of Dharma hats in Tibetan Buddhism, we will attempt to categorize them into a system that is easier to understand. However, it is important to recognize that this classification is merely a tool to help us delve into the rich and profound cultural and iconographic history of the Himalayan-Tibetan region. A deeper understanding of Dharma hats will require a long-term research plan.

*Retreat Mantra Master's Hat*, 19th century, private collection.

This type of hat is called ཐུན་ཞྭ་ (retreat mantra master's hat),
one of the many types of mantra master hats in Tibet.
It is typically used by Buddhist retreat practitioners with mantra master attributes.

*Ralo*, 19th century, private collection.

As a Buddhist master known for "casting deadly spells,"
Ralo wears a black disk mantra master's hat (ཐངས་ནག་ཟོར་ཞྭ་).
Ralo engages in magical contests with others under the blessings of
Vajrabhairava (རྡོ་རྗེ་འཇིགས་བྱེད་).

Detail: Black Disk Mantra Master's Hat.

Traditional literature often categorizes Dharma hats by color, founding masters, or religious sects; however, such methods are only useful for those already familiar with sectarian distinctions. For the majority of people seeking to understand Dharma hats, these methods can lead to confusion about the functions and meanings behind the hats. For example, the two types of mantra master hats mentioned above, while universally used across Tibetan sects, differ significantly in style, color, and even decoration. After drawing on traditional classification methods and modern academic approaches, I have divided all Tibetan Dharma hats into five categories: by style, by color, by function, by origin, and by sectarian lineage.

*The Khön Family: Tudo Wangchuk*, 17th century, private collection.

As a renowned protector practitioner of the Khön family of the Sakya tradition,
Tudo Wangchuk (མཐུ་སྟོབས་དབང་ཕྱུག་；1588-1637)
wears a black ritual dance hat (འཆམ་ཞྭ་ནག་པོ་).

Although similar to the black disk mantra master's hat,
this dark-colored (deep blue) hat is actually a dance hat,
exclusively used for the ritual dances of Vajrakilaya and Vajrabhairava (ཕུར་གཤེན་).

Detail: Vajra Ritual Dance Hat.

These dark-colored disk hats need to be distinguished based on context:
are they dance hats or mantra master hats?

Detail: When used as a dance hat (Vajra Ritual Dance).

Detail: When used as a mantra master's hat (subduing enemies and spirits).

*Subjugation Mantra Master's Hat*, 20th century.

The subjugation mantra master's hat (མཐུ་ཞྭ་) is one of the rarest types of mantra master hats,
used in the most malevolent ritual ceremonies.
Before meeting Marpa, the great master Milarepa
once wore this hat to subjugate his greedy relatives.

*Suffering and Bliss Mantra Master's Hat*, 20th century.

The suffering and bliss mantra master's hat (འགྲུ་དགའ་ཟོར་ཞྭ་)
was originally the hat of Mahakala in the human realm,
later becoming the hat of some protector practitioners.
The flames adorning it symbolize the fierce realm of the protector deities.

The Dharma hats shown above are all mantra master's hats (with a disk-like style), but their specific meanings vary depending on the user, context, and manner of use. Therefore, in these three articles, I have used five categories (primarily style and sectarian lineage) to help readers gain a general understanding of Tibetan Dharma hat culture, as it reflects the social changes and cultural evolution of the snow-covered plateau over millennia.

Pandita Hats and Pointed-Top Hats

As the most common Dharma hat in Tibet, I have already discussed the origins of the Pandita hat in the previous article. As a hat exclusive to scholars and high-ranking monks, its pointed top and extended flaps have influenced the design of indigenous Tibetan Dharma hats. In addition to the Pandita hat, another widely used hat across sects is the crested hat (རྩེ་ཞྭ་). Crested hats are divided into tasseled crested hats (སྒྲོ་ལྷུག་མ་) and gathered-tassel crested hats (སྒྲོ་བཙེམས་མ་). For examples of these two types of crested hats, refer to the two photographs at the beginning of the article. It is often said that the Gelug sect's crested hats are yellow, while those of other sects are red. However, this is not entirely accurate; for instance, the Kagyu sect's crested hats are also yellow, which is something to note. Regarding the origin of crested hats, one of the earliest accounts is associated with Lha Chen Gongpa Rabsel (བླ་ཆེན་དགོངས་པ་རབ་གསལ；953？-1035？).

*Monastic Protector*, private collection.

This Gelug monastic protector wears a gathered-tassel crested hat.

After the collapse of the Tibetan Empire, prolonged civil unrest erupted in central Tibet. To escape the turmoil (traditional histories often attribute their flight to the so-called "Langdarma's persecution of Buddhism"), the three translators Mar, Yo, and Tsang (སྨར་གཡོ་གཙང་) took the northern route to the Dome region. To protect against the cold, Lha Chen Gongpa Rabsel folded his woolen belt and sewed it into a hat resembling a rooster's crest. When the three translators saw this hat, they regarded it as a symbol of the revival of Buddhism (signifying the Dharma resounding across the land even in the harshest winter). Over time, through various historical changes, the crested hat evolved into the form we see today.

*Monks of Sakya Monastery*.

The Sakya monks in the image are wearing gathered-tassel crested hats.
The red at the crown, the black of the hat body, and the white of the brim
symbolize the Three Protectors (Three Bodhisattvas).

Regarding the colors of the Pandita hat (specifically the distinction between red and yellow), I have already explained this in the previous article. Below, we will explore the special ways of wearing the Pandita hat and other types of hats derived from it. Typically, Tibetan monks wear the Pandita hat on their heads; however, depending on the religious context and origin myths, there are variations in how the Pandita hat is worn. Here are two common alternative methods: the folded style, primarily used in the Jonang tradition (ཇོ་ནང་), and the flat style, used during teachings and debates.

*Taranatha*, 19th century, Rubin Museum of Art, New York.

As a master of the Jonang tradition,
Taranatha (ཏཱ་ར་ནཱ་ཐ་；1575-1634)
was one of the greatest scholars of his time.
Through his efforts,
the Jonang tradition became one of the most flourishing teachings in Tibet at the time.

Detail: Taranatha's folded Pandita hat.

Taranatha once traveled to Mongolia to spread the Dharma,
and the folded Pandita hat is also considered
evidence of his journey to North Asia.
In some Jonang historical texts,
Taranatha, while traveling to North Asia, received the assistance of protectors
and entered a meditative state after folding his hat.

Page from *The Autobiography of Taranatha*.

*The Third Panchen Lama*, 19th century, Rubin Museum of Art, New York.

Panchen Lozang Dondrup (བློ་བཟང་དོན་གྲུབ་；1505-1556)
was the most important compiler of the oral transmission of Tsongkhapa (འཇམ་དབྱངས་སྙན་བརྒྱུད་),
and this teaching has been passed down through the Panchen lineage.

Detail: The flat-style Pandita hat.

This style is generally believed to originate from South Asia,
serving as a marker for important lineage holders and scholars renowned for their scriptural debates.

Detail: A monk offering a white lotus.

This fixed imagery is commonly used in the Gelug tradition,
indicating the lineage holder status (of a specific teaching)
of the central figure in the image.
The earliest fixed pairing is "Tsongkhapa and his disciple Khedrup Je,"
with Khedrup Je being the First Panchen Lama.
In this image, the monk offering the tribute is likely
the most important student of the Third Panchen Lama:
Sangye Yeshe (སངས་རྒྱས་ཡེ་ཤེས་；1525-1591).

In the early historical development of the Sakya tradition, three modifications to the Pandita hat emerged, each corresponding to an origin myth of the early Sakya tradition. It is important to note that these three hats represent a progressive evolution and are shared among the Sakya lineages as hats of the Lamdre (Path and Fruit) transmission. These hats symbolize the Sakya tradition's transformation from a family-controlled local sect in Tsang to a multi-branched tradition that significantly influenced Tibetan history. Below are the three modified Pandita hats of the Sakya tradition: Sakya Pandita's wide hat, the Ngor tradition's wide hat, and the auspicious Sakya hat (crossed style).

*Sakya Pandita*, 15th century, private collection.

When Sakya Pandita's grandfather, Drakpa Gyaltsen
（གྲགས་པ་རྒྱལ་མཚན་；1147-1216）, passed away,
Sakya Pandita removed the pointed top of the Pandita hat
as a sign of mourning.
Because the hat appeared wider after removing the pointed top,
it became known as the wide hat (བརྐྱང་ཞུ་).

*Ngorchen Kunga Zangpo*, 15th century, private collection.

As the founder of the Ngor branch of the Sakya tradition's "Sa-Ngor-Tsar" (ས་ངོར་ཚར་),
Kunga Zangpo (ངོར་ཆེན་ཀུན་དགའ་བཟང་པོ་；1382-1456)
sought to distance himself from the worldly atmosphere of Sakya Monastery.
When Kunga Zangpo founded Ngor Monastery in 1429,
he described it as "a pure land upholding the Vinaya."
The Ngor hat features an additional square base
compared to Sakya Pandita's wide hat.
Some Ngor ritual texts refer to it as:
"the eternal mountain of Vinaya" (རྟག་བརྟན་འདུལ་བའི་རི་ཆེན་).

*Phagpa*, 18th century, Rubin Museum of Art, New York.

Regarding the most common auspicious Sakya hat (ས་ཞུ་),
its origin myth is linked to Drogön Chögyal Phagpa, the Imperial Preceptor of the Yuan Dynasty.
When Phagpa returned to Tibet in 1277,
he convened the grand Chumig Dharma Assembly (ཆུ་མིག་ཆོས་འཁོར་) in Tsang.

Detail: The auspicious Sakya hat.

During the assembly, to pay homage to Vajradhara (རྡོ་རྗེ་འཆང་)
and to facilitate the performance of various complex rituals,
Phagpa crossed the two extended flaps at the top.

*Vajradhara*, 15th century, private collection.

Detail: The hand gesture of Vajradhara.

You can compare the hand gesture with the auspicious Sakya hat.

Crown Hats: The Nyingma Lotus Hat

The so-called crown hats refer to a category of Dharma hats with the following three characteristics: first, crown hats are decorative hats resembling crowns (i.e., they can be distinguished by their adornments); second, these hats are often associated with certain power dynamics in religious life; and third, they typically have many variants based on an original "mother hat." Based on the "mother hat" of crown hats, I have divided them into the Nyingma lotus hat, the Karmapa hat of the Kagyu tradition, the Bön crown hat, and others.

*Padmasambhava and Nyangrel Nyima Özer*, 14th century, Rubin Museum of Art, New York.

Detail: Padmasambhava's lotus hat.

In early paintings,
the lotus hat did not seem to carry the complex meanings it later acquired.
However, the vulture feather at the top of the hat remained unchanged.

The Nyingma lotus hat originated from a royal hat (ཐོབ་ཞྭ་) offered by King Tsewang Gyalpo (གཙུག་ལག་འཛིན་) of Zahor (ཟ་ཧོར་) to Padmasambhava. It is also commonly known as the "Liberation Upon Seeing Lotus Hat" (པད་མ་མཐོང་གྲོལ་). According to biographical literature about Padmasambhava formed between the 10th and 11th centuries (it is best not to treat these as standard historical texts): after King Tsewang repeatedly attempted to harm Padmasambhava, he felt deep remorse and offered this hat as atonement. For some researchers, this hat symbolizes Padmasambhava's political-religious status as the "king of the Dharma." As the veneration of Padmasambhava deepened, the meanings associated with this hat also became increasingly enriched.

*Padmasambhava*, 19th century, Rubin Museum of Art, New York.

Detail: Padmasambhava's lotus hat (ཨུ་རྒྱན་པད་ཞྭ་).

The sun and moon on the hat symbolize skillful means and wisdom in Dharma practice,
the vajra ornaments represent unshakable meditation,
the three peaks on the brim and body of the hat symbolize the three bodies of the Buddha,
and the vulture feather signifies the supreme Dharma.

To demonstrate their lineage as inheritors of Padmasambhava's teachings, later Nyingma practitioners developed numerous Dharma hats derived from the lotus hat (a vast number), primarily divided into the treasure revealers' treasure lotus hats (གཏེར་ཞྭ་) and the monastery leaders' lotus hats (གོང་ཞྭ་). Although practices similar to treasure revelation existed in the Bön tradition earlier, it was the Nyingma treasure revealers who truly popularized this tradition. For them, Padmasambhava had already hidden the treasures of the Dharma throughout the snow-covered land, leaving certain markers. Whether the revealed treasures can be directly used or if some of these texts were forged has long been a topic of debate among high monks of various traditions. It seems this practice can be seen as a method for the indigenous tradition (Nyingma) during the later dissemination period to counter the teachings imported into Tibet during the same era, suggesting that profound Dharma needs to be rediscovered rather than sourced anew.

*Namkha Pelzang*, 18th century, Rubin Museum of Art, New York.

As the 11th abbot of Ralung Monastery (རྭ་ལུང་དགོན་)
of the Drukpa Kagyu tradition,
Namkha Pelzang (ནམ་མཁའ་དཔལ་བཟང་；1398-1425)
had a deep interest in the treasure revelation tradition.

Detail: Five famous Nyingma treasure revealers.

Except for Guru Wangchuk (གུ་རུ་དབང་ཕྱུག་；1212-1270) at the top,
the other treasure revealers are wearing various treasure lotus hats.

Detail: Nyangrel Nyima Özer.

As the most important treasure revealer and historian of the Nyingma tradition,
Nyangrel Nyima Özer (ཉང་རལ་ཉི་མ་འོད་ཟེར་；1124-1192)
wears a treasure lotus hat with a blue exterior and red interior.
The foundational imagery of Padmasambhava was initially shaped by him.

Detail: Longchenpa.

Longchenpa (ཀློང་ཆེན་པ་；1308-1364),
a great master of the Dzogchen teachings,
wears a treasure lotus hat that combines elements of the Pandita hat
and the lotus hat.

Detail: The First Dorje Drak Rigdzin, Ngodrup Gyaltsen.

As the revealer of the body, speech, and mind treasures of Padmasambhava,
Ngodrup Gyaltsen (རིག་འཛིན་དངོས་གྲུབ་རྒྱལ་མཚན；1337-1409)
wears a blue lotus hat with a pointed top,
a style that may have been inspired by the pointed white hat of the Bön tradition.

*Treasure Revealer Jigme Dorje*, 17th century, Rubin Museum of Art, New York.

As the founder of Mindrolling Monastery (སྨོན་གྲོལ་གླིང་) of the Nyingma tradition,
Jigme Dorje (འགྱུར་མེད་རྡོ་རྗེ་；1646-1714)
wears the Mindrolling abbot's lotus hat (སྨོན་གྲོལ་གོང་ཞྭ་).

Detail: The Mindrolling abbot's lotus hat.

*Kunzang Sherab*, 18th century, Rubin Museum of Art, New York.

As the founder of Palyul Monastery (དཔལ་ཡུལ་དགོན་),
a renowned Nyingma monastery in Kham,
Kunzang Sherab (ཀུན་བཟང་ཤེས་རབ་；1636-1698)
wears the Palyul abbot's lotus hat (དཔལ་ཡུལ་གོང་ཞྭ་).

Detail: The Palyul abbot's lotus hat.

This style of lotus hat with a back flap
is popular in both the Nyingma and Bön traditions.

It is important to note that the lotus hat is not exclusive to the Nyingma tradition. Historically, high monks from other traditions closely associated with the Nyingma or who studied the treasure revelation tradition also wore hats similar to the Nyingma lotus hat. Examples include Tudo Wangchuk of the Sakya tradition (who also appeared in the mantra master's hat section at the beginning of the article) and the Fourth Panchen Lama, Lozang Chökyi Gyaltsen (བློ་བཟང་ཆོས་ཀྱི་རྒྱལ་མཚན་；1570-1662) of the Gelug tradition.