Himalayan Art Resources

Item: Mahakala (Buddhist Protector) - Shanglon (Minister)

མ་ཧཱ་ཀཱ་ལ། ནག་པོ་ཆེན་པོ། 玛哈嘎拉
(item no. 192)
Origin Location Tibet
Date Range 1800 - 1899
Lineages Nyingma and Gelug
Size 87.00x60.33cm (34.25x23.75in)
Material Ground Mineral Pigment on Cotton
Collection Rubin Museum of Art
Catalogue # acc.# P1995.21.4
Notes about the Central Figure

Classification: Deity

Appearance: Wrathful

Gender: Male

Interpretation / Description

Kandroi Tsomo Che Chang Mar (English: Mistress of the Dakinis, Red Wolf Tongue): one of eight attendant figures in the retinue of Mahakala Gonpo Shanglon.

"In the west is the head of the dakinis, Che Chang Marmo, [with a jackal face, red in colour] having a very fierce visage, bloody matted hair dripping disease onto enemies and hindrances; naked with distended breasts. With four arms the first [left hand] holds a blood filled skullcup. [The right holds a curved knife]. The lower two [hold] on the right a hook and on the left a lasso of intestines and a human head upraised. [She] rides a nine-headed cemetery bird." (Page 333).

Bright red in colour, fearful in appearance, she has a blue wolf head with three large round eyes and orange hair, matted and disheveled. With four hands, the first pair holds a curved knife upraised and a skullcup to the heart against large distended breasts. The second pair holds a hook and a freshly severed head with a lasso of intestines. Adorned with a single skull tiara and necklaces of bone, the arms and legs are adorned with bracelets and anklets. Riding atop a white nine-headed bird she is completely surrounded by pink, green and blue billowing clouds.

At the top center is the Buddha of Medicine, Bhaishajyaraja Guru, blue, holding a medicinal plant in the extended right hand and a black begging bowl in the left. A gold name inscription is written below. (See the Master of Daemons, Red Terrifying One).

Jeff Watt 11-2000

Front of Painting
English Translation of Inscription: Buddha, Teacher of Medicine.

Wylie Transliteration of Inscription: sangs rgyas sman kyi bla ma.

Secondary Images
Related Items
Thematic Sets
Subject: Tibetan Medicine Main Page
Mahakala: Shanglon Dorje Dudul Main Page
Painting Style: Men-ri (New)
Buddhist Protectors: Worldly (Nyingma)
Buddhist Protectors: Worldly (Gelug)
Buddhist Protectors: Worldly (Female)
Subject: Female Imagery Introduction
Collection of Rubin Museum of Art: Painting Gallery 5
Exhibition: Big!
Buddhist Protector: Shanglon, Retinue Figures (Miscellaneous)
Subject: Yutog Nyingtig Terma Cycle
Exhibition: The Art of Tibetan Medicine
Subject: Nine-headed Animal Mounts