Shingkyong Rag Gyal: a wealth deity originating with Padmasambhava and the Nyingma Tradition and later adopted into the Gelugpa Tradition.

Regal in manner Shingkyong Rag Gyal holds upraised a vajra hook in the right hand and with the left clutches to the side of the body a golden wealth vase, spilling over with jewels. Lavishly attired, he rides atop a white snow lion bristling with a green shaggy mane in the center of a palace courtyard.

At the top center is Vajrapani, blue in colour, peaceful in appearance with one face and two hands. At the right sits Padmasambhava and at the left Lama Tsongkapa in the form of a mahasiddha riding atop a tiger while holding a sword and a skullcup.

An elaborate composition of hand prints, inscriptions, mantras and yantras cover the back of the painting. The two principal handprints belong to the most important religious teachers of the Chamdo area of Tibet in the mid 1800s, the 9th Pagpa Lha Ngagwang Lobzang Jigme and the 5th Shiwa Lha Lobsang Dondrub Gyatso.

Ngagwang Lobsang Jigme Lobsang Dondrub Gyatso

Jeff Watt 7-2004