Shrines & Altars

Early morning, a lamp lit before a small carved temple in the corner of the house. Antique shrines and altars from India, Tibet, Nepal, China and Mexico were made to house the divine at home and in the monastery. The Indian ghar mandir, a carved wooden household shrine for daily puja, often takes the form of a miniature temple with pillars and a domed canopy. Tibetan torgam and chosum altar cabinets held offerings and images in monasteries and family shrine rooms, their painted doors bright with Mahakala and protective motifs. Chinese Buddhist niches and Mexican retablos painted on tin, hung above a home altar, answer the same impulse.

Painted and gilded wood, softened by incense and handling, is quietly architectural. Set a ghar mandir on a stair landing and the whole house arranges itself around it.