Item: Ekajati (Buddhist Deity)

Ekajati, with Twelve Faces and Twenty-four Hands (Tib.: ral chig ma shal chu nyi chag nyi shu tsa shi. Eng.: One Braid).

"Goddess Ekajati, blue-black in colour, twelve faces, with the main face black. For the five right faces the first is white, second yellow, third green, fourth red, and fifth smoky-coloured. For the five left faces the first is red, second white, third yellow, fourth green, and fifth red-white. The upper face is smoky-coloured. With bared fangs and the brow gathered in a frown each face has three round red eyes. For the twenty-four hands the right hold a sword, vajra, wheel, jeweled throne, hook, arrow, spear, hammer, pestle, curved knife, hand-drum, and prayer beads. In the left are a bow, lasso, wrathful gesture, pennant, stick, trident, alcohol cup, lily, bell, axe, head of Brahma, and a skullcup. The single plait of brownish-yellow hair flows upward; adorned with five dry skulls, a necklace of fifty fresh heads, the six ornaments and snakes, terrifying with a radiant face and flickering tongue, fearsome and ugly, short with a distended belly, large raised breasts, wearing a tiger skin lower garment, the eight great snakes as ornaments, youthful and marvelous. The left leg is extended standing on a corpse seat." (Thartse Panchen Namka Chime, 1756-1820).

Jeff Watt, 6-2006