Himalayan Art Resources

Item: Achala (Buddhist Deity) - Blue, Standing

མི་གཡོ་བ། 不动明王(梵名:阿遮罗)
(item no. 30529)
Origin Location Tibet
Date Range 1000 - 1099
Lineages Kadam and Buddhist
Material Ground Mineral Pigment on Cotton
Collection Private
Notes about the Central Figure

Classification: Deity

Appearance: Wrathful

Gender: Male

Interpretation / Description

"Arya Achala has a body dark blue in colour with one face and two hands. The right hand holds aloft a sword and the left performs the wrathful gesture at the heart. Above a lotus and sun seat [he] stands with the right leg bent and the left straight [atop] Vighnanraja [Lord of Hindrances - the elephant headed Ganesh]. Wearing a lower garment of tiger skin, having three eyes, red and round, orange hair flowing upward, all the limbs adorned with snakes, [he] stands in the middle of a blazing mass of fire." (The Narthang Gyatsa of Chim Namka Drag).

Jeff Watt [updated 6-2019]

An early Tibetan mandala of Ekallavira Achala in a private collection: An Art Historical Analysis by Pratapaditya Pal. September 09, 2013.

Related Items
Thematic Sets
Buddhist Deity: Achala Art History
Buddhist Deity: Achala Main Page
Buddhist Deity: Achala Masterworks (Standing, Painting)
Buddhist Deity: Achala (Painting Comparison)
Collection: Private 32
Buddhist Deity: Achala Masterworks (Painting)