Himalayan Art Resources

Item: Mandala of Eight Pronouncement Deities

བཀའ་བརྒྱད་ལྷ་ཚོགས། 八大法行
(item no. 89981)
Origin Location Tibet
Date Range 1200 - 1299
Lineages Nyingma and Buddhist
Material Ground Mineral Pigment on Cotton
Collection Private
Notes about the Central Figure

Classification: Deity

Interpretation / Description

Chemchog Heruka at the center of a mandala representing all of the Eight Pronouncement Deities according to the 'Revealed Treasure' of Nyangral Nyima Ozer. (See the Nyingma Mandala Masterworks Page).

At the center is Chemchog Heruka with three faces and six hands, red-black in colour, wrathful and embracing a consort. The three right hands hold vajra scepters, nine, five and three pronged. the three left hands hold three different types of skullcups.

Arrangements of Deities:
- Centre: Mahottara (3 faces)
- East: Vishuddha Heruka (lower front, 6 o'clock)
- South: Yamari (left, 9 o'clock)
- West: Hayagriva (top, 12 o'clock)
- North: Vajrakilaya (right, 3 o'clock)
- North East: Möpa Dragngag (5 o'clock)
- South East: Mamo Bötong (7 o'clock)
- South West: Lama Rigdzin (Padmasambhava) (11 o'clock)
- North West: Jigten Chötö (1 o'clock)

In the lower register, at the center is Raven-faced Mahakala with Chaturbhuja Mahakala to the left and Vaishravana Riding a Lion on the right. At the right corner is a lay male donor figure. Immediately to the left is Shri Devi Dorje Rabtenma on a donkey or horse mount accompanied by a male wrathful figure also on a black mount. At the far left side are three wrathful attendant figures.

Jeff Watt 5-2013 [updated 3-2023]


Dating Tibetan Art. Ingrid Kreide-Damani (ed.). Essays on the Possibilities and Impossibilities of Chronology from the Lempertz Symposium, Cologne. Wiesbaden, 2003. (A Tibetan painting of Chemchok Heruka's Mandala in the McCormick collection, revisted. Jane Casey Singer. Page 113-134).

Related Items
Thematic Sets
Subject: Winged Deities (Bon & Buddhist)
Tradition: Nyingma Religious Context
Mandala: Mandala Main Page
Nyingma: Mandala Masterworks
Tradition: Kagyu Deity Paintings
Tradition: Nyingma Deity Paintings
Collection: Private 1
Mandalas: Nyingma Tradition
Buddhist Deity: Eight Pronouncement Heruka
Teacher: Nyangral Nyima Ozer (Related Subjects)
Mandala: Early Works (1100-1399)
Tradition: Nyingma Masterworks
Buddhist Deity: Mahottara (Holding a Vajra & Skullcup)
Mandala: Deity Figures & Shapes
Mandalas: Kagyu
Padmasambhava: Early Images (Primary & Secondary)
Mandala: Complex Multi-Mandalas
Buddhist Deity: Eight Heruka Mandalas