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Buddhist painting called Tibetan Thangka* representing the wrathful divinity Makahala** with six arms and three eyes, standing on an elephant (symbolizing Ganesh) and surrounded by flames, from the 18th century.
This thangka is in good general condition, in its original condition. It is protected on the front by a fabric door (worn)
Please note: some stains, slight accidents, dirt and wear and tear on the paint, the surrounding silk is worn and torn in places, see photos.
We have other thankha for sale on this site.
also spelled "tangka", "thanka" or "tanka", literally "thing that is unrolled", "scroll"1, is a painting, a drawing, or a fabric on canvas originating from India and characteristic of Tibetan Buddhist culture. They come in all sizes, from portable thangkas that can be rolled up and unrolled using two sticks passed through hems, to monumental thangkas intended to be unrolled on a hillside area or on a thangka wall and which can reach several dozen meters in height. The subjects of thangkas are related to Buddhism. They can represent:
symbolic mystical diagrams (mandala);
a bhavacakra, (wheel of karmic existence);
deities of Tibetan Buddhism or the Bon religion, sometimes related to elements of history;
portraits of tulkus or lamas of high rank in the monastic hierarchy; they are sometimes accompanied by their benefactors or protectors.
Thangkas are most often intended to serve as a support for meditation. The subject is represented in the center, surrounded by subordinate characters who are part of his retinue, his various divine forms, etc. The important divinities of the pantheon are represented in the upper part. The lower part is reserved for various offerings and the guardian divinities of the Law. Mountains are also depicted, an element of traditional Tibetan iconography.
(in Tibetan Ginpo) "the great time" or Nagpo Chenpo (in Tibetan) "the great black" is considered by Tantric Buddhism as a form of the Hindu god Shiva converted to Buddhism. He is part of the Dharmapala, protective guardians of the Law, who protect the doctrine and its institutions from enemy forces. Protector, in particular of the Kagyupa school (oral transmission) and the Dalai Lama, Mahakala has a frightening physique. Originally, different legends describe him warring against the World and persecuting humans. The bodhisattva Vajrapani is said to have converted him to Buddhism. He often appears in monasteries, on the walls above the entrance doors of assembly halls. He can take on very varied forms, but most often appears in a ferocious aspect, wickedly showing his fangs. His skin is generally blue or black, flames surround him. At the top of the skull is his lineage head, the jina, Akshobhya. His three eyes symbolize the clear understanding of past, present and future activities, and his crown of five skulls represents the five poisonous delusions - anger, desire, ignorance, jealousy and pride - transformed into wisdoms by the five families of Buddha. He waves six (more rarely four) arms, the hands of which brandish the objects that symbolize the completion of the six perfections. In his central hands he holds a cleaver that cuts through attachment to the ego, and a skullcap (kapala) filled with blood shows his subjugation of the actors of evil. The knife and the cup also demonstrate the inseparable character of bliss and emptiness, the tantric union of method and wisdom. His forearms clasp a mace (in Sanskrit Gada) arranged horizontally. His other right hand holds a string of skulls, symbolizing his activity in the interest of beings, and in the third a damaru (drum) with which he exercises control over all classes of dakinis. His left hand brandishes a trident decorated with skulls, symbolizing his power over the three spheres of existence - desire, form and the formless realms - and the third, a lasso with which he catches those who stray from the path of Dharma and would break their vows or the restraints of the whims of their confused minds. A corpulent and pot-bellied character dressed in an elephant or tiger skin belted with skulls, he is represented trampling underfoot an elephant which can be assimilated to the god Ganesh, defender of Brahmanism, or to the Hindu divinity Vajrabhairava.
