Item: Mahakala (Buddhist Protector) - Panjaranata - Retinue Figure

Bata, Activity Protector.

The main figure is, “Bhata, black, with a tiger skin fur coat, holding in the right a wooden stick and in the left a human heart.” He also has a skull mala in this painting and stands on a corpse. Vultures and a garuda fly around his halo of flames, and a wolf and a dog emerge from it on the right.

To his left is “Rakshasi Ekajati (Singmo), holding in the right a gold razor and intestines in the left, blazing fire from the mouth.” She also wears silks and is standing on a corpse. Bhata and his sister Singmo are two of the five activity deities in the retinue of Panjarnata Mahakala, “These five have bodies blue-black in colour, three very fierce eyes, adorned with garlands of bones and a necklace of fifty wet human heads, standing in a manner raging and trembling.”

To Bhata’s right is the female wisdom protector, "Ekajati, with a body blue in colour, one face, two hands holding a nectar filled vase to the heart, wearing an upper garment of white silk fabric and a lower garment of tiger skin. The hair is tied in one braid hanging to the left; in a fierce aspect." The quotes are iconography descriptions by Ngorchen Konchog Lhundrub, (1497-1557), translated by Jeff Watt. All three central figures match this iconography.

At the top center is Sachen Kunga Nyingpo, at the top left is Ngorchen Kunga Zangpo, at the top right is a teacher holding a book named Trinle Gyatso, but it is unclear who this refers to. It was most likely a teacher affiliated with Ngor monastery, possibly one of the teachers of the person who commissioned the painting.

At the bottom right is a woman wearing Tibetan robes and jewelry holding a long-life arrow in her right hand and a dish filled with a white offering substance in her left hand. At the bottom left is a Tibetan warrior wearing armor, holding a bow, sword, and shield. Their symbolism is unclear.

At the center right in the foreground is a skull cup with a wrathful offering of the five sense organs. Behind that are two rows of sacrificial cakes (torma) offered to Bhadra nagpo, three large, distinct ones, and five smaller identical ones. Behind the stylized food offerings (torma), a figure wearing a turban raises his arms up at Bhata.

Nick Dharmadi, 2-2026