Item: Indian Adept (siddha) - Padmavajra

Padmavajra, Mahasiddha (Tibetan: pe ma dor je): a member of the 84 mahasiddhas of India.

Slightly tanned in complexion, with a growth of facial hair he looks upward while drinking from a skullcup filled with nectar, held in the right hand. With the left hand placed on the thigh he sits in a relaxed manner with the legs loosely folded together above a blue deerskin mat. The head is adorned with a crown of gold, jewels and a red ribbon. As a necklace, bracelets and armlets white bone ornaments decorate the body. A blue scarf adorns the shoulders and the lower body is wrapped with a red garment.

In front, on rolling clouds, a white goddess with flowing silks offers nectar from a golden pitcher. Below, flowers blossom above a rocky outcropping as two deer gambol in the open meadow. Atop the tall trees at the upper right sits a peaceful bodhisattva, green in colour, with one face and two hands, holding the stem of a lotus flower in the right hand and displaying the mudra of blessing with the left, seated above a moon disc and orange lotus blossom. At the upper left a meandering stream wanders through a valley of diverse green landscape.

Padmavajra?is counted as one of the 8 important Indian Adepts revered in the?Kagyu School of Tibetan Buddhism.

Jeff Watt 3-99

Thematic Sets
Indian Adept: Mahasiddha Paintings, Palpung Composition
Collection of Rubin Museum of Art: Painting Gallery 3
Indian Adept Main Page (Mahasiddha)
Painting Style: Kham Region (Kham-ri)
Indian Adept: Padmavajra (Lotus Vajra)
Painting Set: Mahasiddhas, Indian Adepts - Palpung Composition II
Indian Adept: Confusions
Indian Adept: Padmavajra Biography