A Superb Mongolian Buddhist Thangka Painting Depicting Yamataka 18th Century

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A Superb Mongolian Buddhist Thangka Painting Depicting Yamataka 18th Century

This Superb Mongolian Thangka Painting of Yamantaka with his consort. This magnificent scroll painting is of the very highest level of workmanship and would have been intended as an offering to a monastery or for use in a wealthy patron’s home. The name Yamantaka means ‘He Who Puts an End to Death’ and his alternative name, Vajrabhairava, means ‘Indestructible Wrathful One’. Both names give the viewer the impression that they are in the presence of a most powerful deity whose ability to conquer death and its terrors make it a liberating deity, one not to be feared but to be actively used in the process toward Enlightenment.

Yamantaka is the special deity of the Gelugpa tradition, which became the most powerful and influential in Mongolia. His hands clasp a variety of symbolic ritual instruments, including a Dharma wheel, swords, arrows, lances, and corpses of malignant deities. His consort, Vajravetali can be seen offering him a skull cup of wisdom, with her right hand held high in a threatening gesture. Below the pair are (from the viewer’s left): a protector deity riding on a bear, a small white six-armed form of Mahakala, a small Palden Lhamo, and another protector deity riding a horse.

Provenance: The Todd Barlin Collection of Tibetan and Mongolian Buddhist Art & Asian Art

Exhibited and Published:  The Art of Compassion: Buddhist Art from The Todd Barlin Collection. Sydney Australia 2018. Catalogue written By David Templeman, Pages 21-22

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