Item: Mahottara Heruka (Buddhist Deity) - (21 Faces)
| Origin Location | Tibet |
|---|---|
| Date Range | 1800 - 1899 |
| Lineages | Nyingma and Buddhist |
| Size | 88.57x58.42cm (34.87x23in) |
| Material | Ground Mineral Pigment on Cotton |
| Collection | The Brooklyn Museum of Art |
| Catalogue # | acc. #BMA 36.751, Gift of Herbert L. Pratt in memory of his Wife |
Classification: Deity
Appearance: Wrathful
Gender: Male
Mahottara, Heruka: the supreme combined deity of the Eight Herukas (Tibetan: ka gye) surrounded by wrathful retinue deities at the sides, the primordial Buddha Samantabhadra at the top center with Padmasambhava and lineage teachers alongside.
Mahottara is extremely wrathful, maroon in colour with twenty-one faces, forty-two arms and a number of legs.
At the top left is Pandita Vimalamitra wearing monastic robes and a red pandita hat. An unidentified figure sits next to the primordial Buddha Samantabhadra. At the top right is Padmasambhava with Trisong Detsen seated slightly below. The figures are identified by small name inscriptions written in gold.
Jeff Watt 3-2002
Front of Painting
English Translation of Inscription: [Name inscriptions for the four lineage figures at the top of the composition]
Buddhist Deity: Mahottara Heruka (Maroon Body, 21 Faces)
Collection of Brooklyn Museum of Art
Buddhist Deity: Mahottara Heruka (21 Faces)
Collection of Brooklyn Museum of Art (Deities)