Item: Indian Adept (siddha)

Jnanatapa, an Indian siddha, surrounded above by Tibetan lineage teachers and below by the Eight Great Siddhas. (See a Jnanatapa sculpture HAR #4802).

The Eight Great Siddhas are depicted in the bottom half of the painting on the left and right vertical registers. At the middle left is Saraha, brown in colour, in a dancing posture, holding two arrows in the right hand and a vase in the left. Below Saraha is Nagarjuna in the robes of a monk and a hood of three snakes. Below that is Ghantapa, holding a vajra and bell, leaping into the air. Below that is Dombi Heruka, dark in colour, riding a tigress. At the middle right is King Indrabhuti dressed in royal attire. Below that is Padmavajra embracing a consort. Below that is Luipa with two fish displayed in front. Below that is Kukkuripa, dark in colour, dancing, and holding a dog.

There is no Virupa or Lawapa in this system of eight siddhas.

Numbered List:
Saraha
Nagarjuna
Ghantapa
Dombi Heruka
Indrabhuti
Padmavajra
Luipa
Kukkaripa

Jeff Watt 6-2006 [updated 12-2024]

Thematic Sets
Subject: Eight Siddhas (Eight Great Adepts)
Subject: Eight Siddhas In One Painting
Indian Adept: Jnanatapa
Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Main Page
Indian Adept (Mahasiddha): Painting
Subject: Greyscale - Figurative & General Composition
Indian Adept: Systems of Mahasiddhas
Indian Adept: Alternate Central Figure Compositions (for 8 & 84 Mahasiddhas)
Indian Adept: Siddha Appearance Masterworks (Painting)
Indian Adept (Mahasiddha): Painting (Early Period 11th-14th)
Indian Adept: Three Groupings
Painting Style: Minimalism & Minimalist Landscape
Definition: Mahasiddha (Three Meanings of the Term)