The Karandavyuha Sutra

Object Details

• Patron

  Jayaraja Sakyabhiksu

• Calligrapher

  Simhadeva Sakyabhiksu

• Description

  A complete manuscript consisting of 77 numbered text folios and two blanks in blue-black paper lettered in gilt, three miniature paintings, and a pair of polychrome painted wooden covers.

• Inscriptions

  The folio numbers in ordinary Newari. Inscriptions in Sanskrit. The script is Ranjana.

• Provenance

  1678-?

  Dugam-bahal (Sadaksari mahavihara), Kathmandu, Nepal [1]

  ?-?

  Ownership information unknown

  At least 1982-1991

  A. Peter Burleigh, method of acquisition is unknown [2]

  From 1991

  Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, gift of A. Peter Burleigh [3]

  Notes:

  [1] See object information in document beginning with “PB-1 [/] Name of text: Karandavyuha,” undated (ca. 1991?), copy in object file. The provenience is described as “Dugam-bahal (Sadaksari mahavihara), Kathmandu.”

  [2] See Mary Slusser, “Nepal Mandala: A Cultural Study of the Kathmandu Valley” [book], vol. 2, (Princeton: Princeton University Press. 1982), pl. 595. In the “List of Plates” (p. xviii), object is described as “Rato Matsyendranatha is worshiped by Bhairava and King Nripendramalla of Kathmandu (collection of A. Burleigh).

  See also “Custody Receipt,” dated October 31, 1991, copy in object file. The object was transferred from A. Peter Burleigh to the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery for acquisition consideration on October 31, 1991.

  A. Peter Burleigh was an Ambassador and Foreign Service Officer for the US Department of State. Born in Los Angeles, California, Burleigh attended Colgate University in New York. He served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Nepal from 1963 to 1965 and returned in 1966 after he was awarded a Fulbright Grant. He entered the Foreign Service in 1967 and served in the Department of State for the Bureau of Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs in various roles (1982-1989). He later was appointed as the Director of the Bureau of Counterterrorism (1991-1992) and the United States Ambassador to Sri Lanka and the Maldives (1995-1997), United Nations (1998-1999), and India (2009, acting 2011-2012). Burleigh resided in Washington, DC; New York, NY; and Fort Lauderdale, FL. Works from his collection may also be found at the Los Angeles County Museum.

  [3] See Arthur M. Sackler, “Acquisition Consideration Form,” approved on December 13, 1991, copy in object file. See also “Deed of Gift to the Arthur M. Sacker Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution,” dated December 20, 1991, copy in object file.

  Research updated July 20, 2023

• Collection

  National Museum of Asian Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Dharma and Punya: Buddhist Ritual Art of Nepal (September 2 to December 31, 2019)

• Previous custodian or owner

  A. Peter Burleigh

• Origin

  Kathmandu, Nepal

• Credit Line

  Gift of A. Peter Burleigh

• Type

  Manuscript

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1670s

• Name

  Burleigh, A. Peter

• Place

  Kathmandu, Nepal

• Topic

  South Asian and Himalayan Art, Worship, Art, King, Queen, Portraits, Sutra, Avalokite?svara (Buddhist deity), Fudo Myo-o, Manjushri, Bodhisattva

• Culture

  Buddhists, Himalayan peoples, South Asians

• Object Type

  Manuscripts