Tangka Paintings
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#17463
- Textile tangka
- Length: 21.50 inch (not complete)
- Width: 12.50 inch (not complete)
- Acquired: Likir Monastery, Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, India
- Koelz number: K585
Description
Palden Lhamo (Glorious Goddess), a form of Sri Devi, the female protection deity of Tantric Buddhism. In this four-armed manifestation, she holds a curved knife and skull cap in her lower hands and brandishes a sword and victory staff, adorned with the flayed skin of a human, above. Her mule is led through a sea of flames by the makara-headed dakini Makravaktra. The lion-headed dakini Simhavatra follows behind. Lhamo wears the golden sun in her navel; the crescent moon adorned with a peacock feather is in her hair. Flayed human skin serves as her shawl and freshly severed human heads girdle her hips. Her mule is bridled and trimmed with snakes; from these trappings hang her bag full of diseases, a pair of dice, and a ball of magic thread. The mule is covered by the flayed skin of Lhamo’s son.
In the sky above her, Vajradhara (the Vajra Holder, Enlightened One) sits between the sun and moon. Below the flames lies a charnel ground, with bodies being dismembered by wild beasts. The figures in the two upper corners are likely both mahasiddhas (religious teachers; accomplished one).
The painting here is exceptionally fine. Although the painting has been cut, stitch marks and a golden border indicate that it is nearly complete.