Mahakala: Panjarnata Religious Context

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Videos:
- Panjarnata Mahakala
- Painting #24453

Panjarnata Mahakala has traditions where he functions as a protector deity and there are traditions where he is a meditational deity with a mandala along with generation and perfection stage yoga practices.

The 'Vajra Pavilion' when represented in mandala paintings or for three-dimensional mandalas is known as the 'Vajra Circle' (Sanskrit: vajravali): inside of the outer ring of a two-dimensional mandala, painting or textile, is a circle of fire and then a vajra circle. This vajra circle is often difficult to see and easy to dismiss as simply decorative. The circle is a series of gold or yellow vajras, painted against a dark blue or black background, lined up end to end and circling around the entire mandala, deity and palace. The vajra circle is not envisioned as flat or horizontal like the lotus circle. The vajras are seen as a three dimensional pavilion, without doors or windows, completely enclosing the mandala. It is made entirely of vajras, small and large with all of the openings filled with ever smaller vajras. It is a three-dimensional structure and impenetrable. Envisioned as a three-dimensional object it is called the Vajra Pavilion and according to function it is called the Outer Protection Chakra.

Article: The Popularity & Importance of Panjarnata Mahakala in the Study of Tibetan Art

Rinchen Zangpo Lineage of Teachers: Vajradhara, Vajrapanjara Dakini, Brahmin Vararuchi, Pandita Deva Vajra, Shraddha Karavarma, Lochen Rinchen Zangpo, Drag Tengpa Yontan Tsultrim, Mal Lotsawa Lodro Drag, Sachen Kunga Nyingpo (1092-1158), etc.

Database Search: All Images | Painting | Black Ground | Sculpture | Mandalas

Jeff Watt [updated 1-2019, 12-2019]

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bod brgyud nang bstan lha tshogs chen mo bzhugs so, 2001. ISBN 7-5420-0816-1. Pages 973-983.

(84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha: The Gaṇḍī Sūtra. Gaṇḍīsūtra, གཎ་ཌཱིའི་མདོ།).

(The images below are only a selection of examples from the links above).