Item: Mahottara Heruka (Buddhist Deity) - (21 Faces)

Mahottara (Chemchog) the combined diety of the Eight Heruka 'Pronouncement' deities.

The early Nyingma Tradition had two principal systems of deity meditation: [1] the Peaceful & Wrathful Deities of the Guhyagarbha Tantra and [2] the Eight Pronouncement Heruka. Over time and with the rise of the 'Revealed Treasure' (Terma) teachings numerous [3] meditational forms of Padmasambhava grew in popularity essentially creating an additional third category of deity meditation types.

In the Nyingma (Old) Tradition the term Heruka (blood drinker) generally refers to any male-meditational deity, wrathful in appearance, typically with three faces, six arms, four legs, wings and a consort. There are eight famous Nyingma Heruka deities. Aside from those principal eight deities other deities with a semi-peaceful - semi-wrathful appearance, arising from specific Revealed Treasure Traditions, may also be referred to as Heruka.

Jeff Watt 5-2004 [2-2016]