Himalayan Art Resources

Item: Hevajra (Buddhist Deity)

ཀྱེ་རྡོ་རྗེ། ནང་ལྷ། 喜金刚(佛教本尊)
(item no. 65704)
Origin Location Tibet
Date Range 1700 - 1799
Lineages Sakya and Buddhist
Material Ground Mineral Pigment, Black Background on Cotton
Collection Rubin Museum of Art
Notes about the Central Figure

Classification: Deity

Interpretation / Description

Hevajra surrounded by the lineage of teachers of the Margapala Tradition of the Sakya School of Tibetan Buddhism.

The deity Hevajra stands in the middle of the composition, slightly wrathful, blue in colour with eight faces and sixteen hands. He is surrounded by eight retinue goddesses.

Along the bottom are the three power figures known as the Three Great Red Deities (Tibetan: marpo kor sum). At the left is Takkiraja, red with one face and two hands embracing a consort. In the middle is Kurukulla with one face and four hands, standing in a dancing posture. At the right is Maha Rakta Ganapati with an elepahnt head and twelve hands, standing on a rat.

Each figure in the painting is accompanied by a written name inscription in gold lettering.

Jeff Watt 5-2006

Secondary Images
Related Items
Thematic Sets
Painting Type: Black Ground Main Page
Buddhist Deity: Hevajra Main Page
Painting Type: Black Ground (Eastern Tibet, Kham)
Collection of Rubin Museum of Art: Painting Gallery 4
Subject: Lineage (Single Composition)
Buddhist Deity: Hevajra & Lamdre Lineage
Buddhist Deity: Hevajra, Deity Paintings
Collection of RMA: Black Ground Masterworks