Himalayan Art Resources

Item: Marichi (Buddhist Deity) - Kalpoktam (3 faces, 8 hands)

འོད་སེར་ཅན་མ། ནང་ལྷ། 具光佛母(佛教本尊)
(item no. 90016)
Origin Location Central Tibet
Date Range 1600 - 1699
Lineages Karma (Kagyu)
Size 57.79x43.82cm (22.75x17.25in)
Material Ground Mineral Pigment on Silk
Collection Navin Kumar
Notes about the Central Figure

Classification: Deity

Appearance: Peaceful

Gender: Female

Interpretation / Description

Marichi, Kalpoktam (Tibetan: o zer chen ma, English: the One Having Light Rays), Goddess of the Dawn attributed to the 10th Gyalwa Karmapa, Choying Dorje (1604-1674 [70 yrs]) Biographical details.

Peaceful in appearance, yellow in colour, with three faces and eight hands. Seated atop a large mother sow, the left leg extended rests on the back of several sleeping piglets. The red orb of the morning sun encircles behind crowned with the upper spire of a stupa.

"She who holds the night, and by merely remembering quickly protects from all fears and bestows the stainless great bliss. To the goddess Marichi I bow." (Sakya liturgical verse).

Jeff Watt 4-2000

Related Items
Thematic Sets
Buddhist Deity: Marichi (Masterworks)
Subject: Sun & Moon
Tradition: Karma Kagyu Main Page
Tradition: Kagyu Deity Paintings
Buddhist Deity: Deities (Female)
Artist: Choying Dorje (Miscellaneous Paintings)
Buddhist Deity: Marichi, Kalpoktam (Three Faces & Eight Arms)
Artist: Choying Dorje (Painting)
Buddhist Deity: Marichi Main Page
Artist: Choying Dorje & Atelier Works of Art (All Paintings)
Buddhist Deity: Marichi (Yellow Forms)
Subject: Deity Colours - Yellow Main Page (Increasing Activities)
Subject: Deities & Stupas
Buddhist Deity: Marichi in a Stupa
Buddhist Deity: Marichi Iconography
Collection of Navin Kumar Gallery: Painting
Teacher: Karmapa Choying Dorje Religious Context
Stupa (Chaitya): Deities
Essay: Marichi, Shingon & Tibetan Buddhist Comparison
Buddhist Deity: Marichi Riding a Sow