Item: Mandala of Amitayus Buddha - Amitayus

Amitayus Nine Deity Mandala (Tibetan: tse pag me lha gu kyil kor) according to the lineage of mahasiddha Jetari. Location: Tsang Province, Central Tibet.

At the upper left corner, below the register, is Tsongkapa together with four additional figures and two of the Eight Auspicious Symbols. At the upper right is orange Manjushri with four figures and two symbols. At the lower left is Ushnishavijaya with four figures and two symbols. At the lower right is Maha Pratisara from the group of the five Pancha Raksha with four figures and two symbols.

Along the bottom register beginning on the left side is a donor figure and family followed by Vaishravana Riding a Lion, Yellow Jambhala, Black Jambhala, Yellow Vasudhara, White Ganapati, Chaturbhuja Mahakala (four-armed), Shadbhuja Mahakala (six-armed), Panjara Mahakala (two-armed), Shri Devi and 'Outer' Yama Dharmaraja.

Lineage of Teachers: Amitayus, Acharya Garbha, Jetari, Acharya Bodhi Bhadra, Acharya Samadhi Bhadra, Vajrasana the greater and younger, Bari Lotsawa Rinchen Drag, Sachen Kunga Nyingpo (1092-1158), etc.

The painting is either a single composition or part of a series of paintings created at the request of the donor but not part of a common set of paintings such as the Vajravali or Mitra Gyatsa famous sets of paintings. The reason for this is firstly because the Amitayus mandala is not found in the list of the Vajravali set and secondly the lineage of figures in the top register does not correspond with the Mitra Gyatsa lineage of teachers.

Jeff Watt 1-2019

Thematic Sets
Buddhist Deity: Amitayus (Early Paintings)
Buddhist Deity: Amitayus Nine Deity Mandala
Buddhist Deity: Amitayus Buddha (Mandala)