Item: King - Gesar

King Gesar in warrior appearance (drala) from an eleven painting set narrating the biography of Gesar, circa 1900. This is the central painting and the principal figure in the middle is King Gesar. Each of the other ten paintings depict a mountain god or local deity as the central subject. Each composition has a central figure relating to specific stories. (Only one example of the 11 is exhibited on the HAR site and only this painting is on view in the Sichuan Provincial Museum).

There are two sets of this same composition. One set resides in the Guimet Museum in Paris, France, with only two paintings of the eleven and this second set belongs to the Sichuan Provincial Museum, Chengdu, China, which includes all eleven paintings.

At the top center is the female deity Guhya Jnana Dakini, red in colour, in a slightly wrathful appearance, with one face and four hands, standing in a dancing posture. This form of Guhya Jnana became popular through the Revealed Treasures (terma) of Lelung Zhepa'i Dorje (1697-1740). Slightly below are the two female meditational deities Green and White Tara.

Jeff Watt 4-2010

Front of Painting
English Translation of Inscription: [Inscriptions accompanying each narrative vignette].