Himalayan Art Resources

Item: Mandala of Buddhakapala (Buddhist Deity)

སངས་རྒྱས་ཐོད་པ། 佛陀嘎巴拉金刚
(item no. 77234)
Origin Location Tibet
Date Range 1300 - 1399
Lineages Sakya and Buddhist
Material Ground Mineral Pigment on Cotton
Collection Publication: Wisdom Publications, Calender
Catalogue # collection of Musee Guimet Museum, Paris
Notes about the Central Figure

Classification: Deity

Interpretation / Description

Buddhakapala Mandala.

"Buddhakapala is blue with one face and four arms. The right two hold a double-sided drum and a curved knife. The left two hold a skullcup and a katvanga staff. Having three eyes and the pile of hair adorned with a vishva-vajra and crescent moon, a crown of five dry skulls and a necklace of fifty wet, adorned with the five mudras, an elephant hide as a lower garment, standing in a dancing manner, half vajra, expressing the nine moods of dance. [He] embraces the consort Vishvasukha Matri, red, [holding] in the right a curved knife and a skullcup in the left embracing the Lord, surrounded by the eight goddesses."

Jeff Watt 1-2012 [updated 4-2017]

Wisdom Calendar 2003 - December (full catalog list)

Related Items
Thematic Sets
Mandala: Mandala Main Page
Subject: Jonangpa Tradition
Painting Style: Ngor Mandalas
Buddhist Deity: Buddhakapala Main Page
Buddhist Deity: Buddhakapala (Masterworks)
Buddhist Deity: Buddhakapala Iconography