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- of leaves. She has three heads and in her six hands she holds a thunderbolt, hatchet, bow, arrow, lasso and a branch. A wrathful form of Padmasambhava stands to the right of Vajriputra.
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a) Padmasambhava
late 18th/early 19th century gouache on cotton, 63.5 x 43.5 cm Gift of Mrs. H. R. Gale AGGV 58.44
b) Paradise of Padmasamabhava
mid-20th century
gouache on cotton, 73.6 x 55 cm Rosina Izzard and Robert Usatch of Carnaby Street Boutique
Padmasambhava was a renowned eighth-century Indian tantric exorcist. According to tradition, he was invited to Tibet by King Thisong Detsen (r. 751 -97) to tame the local demons, who were obstructing the path of Buddhism. He succeeded in his task and made them into guardians of Buddhism. He was deified and is venerated as Guru Rinpoche (the Precious Guru) throughout Tibet and becameoneof the most popular subjects in Tibetan art. He is the patron saint of the Nyingmapa sect, who regard him as a second Buddha. Padmasambhava is usually depicted in monk�s attire, seated on a lotus base with his legs crossed, holding a vajra in his right hand a skull cup with a vase of life in his left. His special symbol, the khatvanga or magic wand rests in the crook of his left arm. He wears a distinctive hat usually with turned-up lappets, resembling a lotus flower, for he is believed to have been born from a red lotus-flower. In both thankas he is flanked by his two consorts and his eight manifestations. At the bottom left of thanka (a) is Senge Dradog, the wrathful manifestation of Padsamabhava in which form he subdued Tibet�s local deities. In thanka (b), he is shown in the courtyard of his palace on the �copper-coloured island mountain.�
17 Mahasiddha Virupa and Other Deities
late 16th/early 17th century
gouache on cotton, 67.3 x 47 cm
Gift of Max Tanenbaum, Toronto, 1980
NGC 26832
The main figure on the left of this thanka is the mahasiddha Virupa seated on a deer skin spread atop a lotus in a perfunctory landscape. His bare torso is adorned with a pearl string crossbelt with a floral clasp. His hair is piled high in an ascetic�stop- knot (jata). His hands are in the gesture of teaching (dharmacakra mudra). Two other unidentified mahasiddhas are depicted at the lower left. At the lower right Kurukulla (the Red Tara) stands dancing in ardhaparyankasana on her left foot. She has a fierce expression. Two of her four hands draw the capa and sara (bow and arrow).
To the right of Virupa is a dakini identified as Nairatamya, theprayna or partner of Hevajra. She has a scowling face with the third eye, and is seated on a
human figure set on a fully opened lotus. Her right hand holds a chopper, her left a skull cup filled with blood and a khatvanga. At top centre is the titulary god Hevajra in yab-yum attitude with his sakti. He has eight heads, four legs trampling the four Maras underfoot, and sixteen arms, each hand holding a skull cup. He is one of the most important deities of esoteric Buddhism.
18 Indian Guru
19th century
gouache on cotton, 64.2 x 35.9 cm Gift of Max Tanenbaum, Totonto, 1980 NGC 26863
The Indian sage depicted in this Chinese-type landscape appears to be Gayadhara or the maha�siddha Shantideva. Gayadhara, who hailed from a family of literati, travelled to Tibet in the ninth century bringing Virupa�s teachings. He is often depicted in thankas next to Virupa. Themahasiddha Shantideva, who lived from 695 to 730 was a crown prince who gave up his right to the throne to study Buddhism. His modest behaviour was misunderstood, so he had to prove his knowledge in a discourse. There�fore, he is depicted in a gesture of argument.
At bottom left is Mahakala, framed by a ring of fire. In this manifestation, he is the Lord of the Tent. He holds the chopper and the skull cup and his magic staff rests across his arms. To the right of Mahakala is another depiction of a mahasiddha pouring sacred water on flowers.
At top left is the dakini Naro Khachoma holding a skull cup, chopper and khatvanga. Dakinis are usually invoked for the granting of mystic faculties or Siddhi. To the right is a mahasiddha seated on an antelope skin, holding a khatvanga, skull cup and a double drum.
19 Portrait of a Sakyapa Hierarch
16th century
gouache on cotton, 66.5 x 57.6 cm Gift of Max Tanenbaum, Toronto, 1980 NGC 26827
This thanka is an example of Tibetan hieratic por�traiture. It depicts a Sakyapa hierarch prominently seated in the centre, nimbate and enthroned like a deity flanked by two bodhisattvas. The central dignitary is surrounded by smaller representations of others of the lineage on either side. Along the top rows are a number of deities and mahasiddhas. Generally the protective deities, here dakinis, are depicted at the bottom register. This old, balding monk with white hair is depicted with remarkable realism and his facial features are sensitively rendered. The hierarch might be Kunga Nyingbo (1092-1158) of the noble family of Khon, the founder of the Sakyapa order. Possibly the earliest of this type of lineage thankas is the twelfth-century thanka in the Ernst Jucker Collection (published in Pal, Tibetan Paintings, PI. 6) depicting a Sakyapa hierarch. The old hierarch is also very similar to the elderly monk depicted at the lower left of a thanka illustrated in Pal, Art of Tibet, PI. 20. The monk is
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