Himalayan Art Resources

Item: Shri Devi (Buddhist Protector) - Dudsolma

དཔལ་ལྡན་ལྷ་མོ། 吉祥天母(佛教护法)
(item no. 65007)
Origin Location Tibet
Date Range 1400 - 1499
Lineages Sakya
Size 10.16x8.26cm (4x3.25in)
Material Ground: Cotton
Collection Rubin Museum of Art
Catalogue # acc.#C2001.3.1
Notes about the Central Figure

Classification: Deity

Appearance: Wrathful

Gender: Female

Interpretation / Description

Shri Devi (English: Glorious Goddess. Tibetan: pal den lha mo). The principal consort for the enlightened protector Mahakala and the main female protector of the Sakya School.

"...the Glorious Goddess, Mistress of the Desire Realm, riding a donkey with a white patch; with a body blue-black in colour, one face and four hands; the first right holds a sword, second a skullcup filled with blood; the first left holds a spear, the second a trident; with a crown of five dry human skulls and a necklace of fifty wet and six bone ornaments; an elephant hide as an upper garment and a rakshasa hide as a skirt, a lower garment of woven hair; the Lord of Nagas tied as a girdle; possessing three eyes, a stiff human corpse in the mouth, bared fangs. The right ear is adorned with a poisonous snake and the left a lion. On the body arranged in bunches are drops of blood, clots of mold, and ashes of the dead; very emaciated..." (Ngorchen Konchog Lhundrup, 1497-1557).

Jeff Watt 3-2002

Related Items
Exhibition Appearances
Exhibition: Female Buddhas at RMA

Thematic Sets
Buddhist Protector: Shri Devi (Sakya)
Buddhist Protector: Shri Devi (Early Works)
Buddhist Protector: Shri Devi, Dudsolma
Buddhist Protector: Shri Devi (Masterworks)
Tradition: Sakya Protectors
Buddhist Protector: Shri Devi Main Page
Buddhist Protector: Shri Devi, Dudsol Dokam Wangchugma
Collection of Rubin Museum of Art (RMA): Main Page