YUP TENPAI NYIMA WITH GLASSES

This rare thangka is special for one thing—the glasses. According to Buddhist mural painters and iconography, Yup Tenpai Nyima (1567-1619), was offered a pair of power glasses by Raja Pran Narayan (r1626-1665) of Cooch Bihar. This picture depicts Bhutan's friendly relation with the Princely State of Cooch Bihar then.

Note that one of the first recorded pair of glasses were made in 1284 by Salvino D'Armate in Italy.