Himalayan Art Resources

Item: Padmasambhava - Pure Land (Copper Coloured Mountain)

པད་མ་འབྱུང་གནས། 莲花生大士
(item no. 90908)
Origin Location Tibet
Date Range 1600 - 1699
Lineages Nyingma
Material Ground Mineral Pigment on Cotton
Collection Carolyn and Wesley Halpert
Notes about the Central Figure

Classification: Deity

Interpretation / Description

Padmasambhava (Tibetan: pe ma jung ne, gu ru rin po che, English: the Precious Teacher, the One Arisen from a Lotus): seated in the three-storied palace on the Copper-coloured mountain on the Daemon Island in the western ocean.

Mature in appearance, he extends the right hand forward across the knee grasping a vajra scepter. The left hand placed in the lap supports a white skullcup and long-life vase. A tantric katvanga staff rests against the left shoulder. Wearing multi-coloured robes representing all three disciplines the head also is adorned with the lotus crown. The two consorts sit at the sides and the various manifestations of Guru Rinpoche sit in front. The middle floor of the palace hosts Avalokiteshvara, Manjushri and Vajrapani. Buddha Amitabha occupies the top floor. A sphere of rainbow light and a host of goddesses hover in the sky above.

To the right and left of the palace wisdom protectors and worldly deities rest on billowing banks of clouds. The four doors of the palace are guarded by the Four Guardian Kings. Hermits and yogis occupy caves on the mountainside while daemons and mendicants fill the foreground. Numerous inscriptions written in fine gold Tibetan lettering explain the various narrative scenes.

Jeff Watt 4-2000

Related Items
Thematic Sets
Collection: Christie's, Painting (September, 2003; NY)
Collection of Caroline & Wesley Halpert
Subject: Sacred Geography Main Page
Padmasambhava: Copper Coloured Mountain
Padmasambhava: Copper Coloured Mountain (Masterworks)
Padmasambhava: Main Form (Vajra at the Knee)