VII

Protection

守护

The wrathful face is turned outward.

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Purpose VII of nine

What guards the rest

Mahakala is black, haloed in flame, and terrifying by design. The tradition is careful on the point: the anger is borrowed rather than his own, and it is aimed at obstacles rather than at people. Protectors are painted for the edges of a shrine and for the doors of a house, and they are the figures most often worn.

The anger is borrowed

Mahakala is black, wreathed in flame, and frightening on purpose. Every commentary is careful on the same point: the wrath is not his own temperament, it is put on, and it is aimed at obstacles rather than at people. A protector painted smiling would be a protector doing nothing.

Where they are placed

Protectors go at the edges — beside a door, at the end of a corridor, at the boundary of a shrine rather than at its centre. They are not the figure you sit in front of; they are the figure facing outward while you do. In monasteries the protector chapel is often a separate room, and it is the one lay visitors are least likely to be taken into.

Three from this purpose

STYLE DEMO — XTK-011 reference photograph

Palden Lhamo Thangka Thangka Painting Catalogue preview

大黑天 · TK-022 Thangka Painting Catalogue preview

不动明王 · JPTK-025 Thangka Painting Catalogue preview

View the collection

And what is worn

Of the nine, this is the purpose least confined to a wall. Mahakala, Vajrapani and Garuda are the figures cast into pendants and closed inside gau boxes — a gau being a small hinged box, worn at the neck or on a belt, carrying a folded prayer or a miniature painting. It is the travelling form of everything else on this page.

Hung at an entrance, carried on a journey, and worn in a gau when the wearer is far from home.

The figures · 7 figures

Mahakala大黑天

Mahakala, wrathful protector of the dharma

He is wrathful and dark, black or deep blue, squat and heavy, standing in a mass of flames on a prone figure. A crown of five skulls sits above three eyes, with a garland of severed heads at the chest. The widespread two-armed form holds a curved flaying knife in the right hand and a skullcup in the left. Four- and six-armed forms carry further weapons.

He is a dharmapala, a protector rather than a worldly god, and in most Tibetan traditions is understood as the wrathful aspect of Avalokiteshvara. Monasteries traditionally keep his image in the protector chapel.

See Mahakala pieces

Six-armed Mahakala六臂大黑天

Six-armed Mahakala, wrathful protector of the Dharma

He is dark blue-black, short and heavy-set, standing on a prostrate figure within a ring of flame. Six arms hold a curved flaying knife and a skullcup at the heart, a rosary and a hand drum, a trident and a lasso. He wears a crown of five skulls, a garland of severed heads, and a tiger skin at the waist. His hair rises upward and his three eyes are wide.

In the tradition he is invoked as a protector of practitioners and of the teachings, and is closely associated with the Gelug and Kagyu schools. Images of him are customarily kept by those under a teacher's guidance.

See Six-armed Mahakala pieces

Achala不动明王

Achala, the Immovable One, wrathful remover of obstacles

He is usually blue or blue-black, stout and wrathful, often kneeling on one knee rather than standing upright. His right hand raises an upright sword; his left holds a lasso or noose at the chest. Flames surround him and his hair is braided, with one plait falling over the left shoulder. His face shows fangs and three eyes.

Traditionally associated with steadiness and the clearing of obstacles at the start of practice or of an undertaking. In East Asia, where he is known as Fudo Myoo, he is customarily invoked at the outset of a difficult task.

See Achala pieces

Palden Lhamo吉祥天母

Palden Lhamo, the wrathful protectress of Tibet

She is dark blue and wrathful, riding side-saddle on a mule across a sea of blood. Her raised right hand holds a club, her left a skull cup. The saddle blanket is a flayed human skin, and an eye is set into the mule's rump. She wears a crown of five skulls, and her red hair rises into a halo of flame.

She is the principal protectress of the Gelug school, of Lhasa and of the Dalai Lamas. In the tradition she is invoked for the protection of a place, a lineage or a community rather than of an individual.

See Palden Lhamo pieces

Garuda大鹏鸟

Garuda, the bird motif of Himalayan metalwork

Garuda is a bird-man: human torso and arms, wings spread, a beaked face with round eyes and two horns, and clawed feet. A snake is usually gripped in the beak or the hands. In Tibetan versions the body is often gold or red with blue-green wings. As a ring or pendant motif the wings are flattened into the shoulders of the band and the face fills the front.

In the tradition Garuda is invoked in connection with naga-related illness and with obstacles, and the motif is customarily worn as a protective emblem in Himalayan jewellery.

See Garuda pieces

Lion醒狮

The lion, guardian motif of Himalayan art

The lion appears in two related forms. The snow lion is white with a turquoise mane and tail tufts, shown leaping or standing alert, and is often drawn in pairs. The guardian lion is heavier and more feline, set at thresholds and on throne bases. On jewellery the motif is reduced to a head or a full body in relief, with the mane rendered as curls.

Traditionally associated with fearlessness and with the guarding of thresholds and thrones. The snow lion is an emblem of Tibet itself, and lion-marked pieces are customarily worn as guardian motifs.

See Lion pieces

Vajrapani金刚手

Vajrapani, the wrathful bodhisattva who holds the vajra

He is most often dark blue and wrathful, standing in a wide stride on a lotus and sun disc inside a mass of flame. The right hand is raised overhead brandishing a vajra; the left is held at the heart, often with a lasso. He wears a tiger-skin skirt, snake ornaments and a skull crown, with three eyes and bared fangs.

In the tradition he embodies the power of all the buddhas, and with Avalokiteshvara and Manjushri he forms the group of three protectors. He is customarily invoked for the removal of obstacles.

See Vajrapani pieces

In the collection