An Unusual Painting of a Siddha
This is a painting of an Indian Siddha Figure (currently unidentified) accompanied by two forms of Vajravarahi at the right and left (also unidentified), figures in narrative scenes above and rows of twenty-one human figures below, attended upon by four offering goddesses, and a protector deity and a wealth deity at the bottom right and left.
All of the figures in the painting except for the Mahakala are essentially unidentified. This painting is a mystery. Who is the central Indian figure? What are the stories in the narrative vignettes above? Who are the twenty-one human figures in the registers below? Is that a topless woman in the first row right?
Is the painting in a Tibetan style, Nepali/Newar? Is it possibly associated with Tangut or Xixia culture? Are the stylistic and decorative elements more closely aligned with the murals of Luri Gompa in upper Mustang, Nepal?
In this one painting we have all of the elements of a good art and iconography mystery.