The Eighteen Arahants

This thangka painting is centered on Shakyamuni, beneath whom standing his two disciples, Sariputta and Maudgalyayana both holding a khakkhara in one hand and a Buddha bowl in the other. The three are surrounded by the Eighteen Arahants, sixteen arahants with two aryas actually, who were introduced to Tibetan Buddhism from the Han Buddhism as a matter of fact. But the arahants are arranged in an order different from that in the Han belief.