Item: Mahakala (Buddhist Protector) - Danda (Stick)

Danda Mahakala (Tibetan: gon po beng leg den nag po. English: the Great Black One with a Staff). This painting belongs to a set of over 34 paintings depicting individually all of the principal and retinue figures of the large Chaturbhuja Mahakala mandala according to the tradition of Tsami Lotsawa Mondrub Sherab.

Video: Mahakala: HAR #22

The artist was Drugu Chogyal Kunga Gyatso (born 1638). He founded the Drugu Monastery in Lhadrak Dah and the Drugu Retreat Center in 1676. He was both a great religious teacher and a renowned artist. Several of his paintings were saved from the destruction of the Cultural Revolution. This painting has been identified and attributed to the 2nd Chogyal Rinpoche by the current 8th Drugu Chogyal Rinpoche Yonten Gyatso (born 1946).

At the top center of the composition is Mitra Yogin.

Jeff Watt 9-2000

Front of Painting
English Translation of Inscription: mi tra dzo ki. (Other isncriptions illegible).

Thematic Sets
Buddhist Protector: Mahakala Masterworks (Miscellaneous)
Buddhist Protectors: Enlightened
Painting Type: Black Ground Main Page
Tradition: Marpa/Dagpo Kagyu Masterworks
Protectors: General Divisions & Classes
Buddhist Protector: Mahakala Main Page
Mahakala: Danda (Stick)
Collection of Shelley & Donald Rubin (Masterworks)
HAR: Types of Art
Video: Art History (YouTube)
Buddhist Protector: Mahakala List of Names & Forms
Painting Tradition: Khyenri, Black Ground
Mahakala: Legden (Bhagavat, Excellent One)
Mahakala (Kagyu)
Collection of Shelley & Donald Rubin
Painting Set: Chaturbhuja Mahakala & Retinue (Drugu Chogyal)
Painting Main Page: Painting & Composition (Flat Art)
Subject: War, Conflict & Strife
Subject: Wrathful Appearance Page
Painting Type: Black Ground Masterworks