Chaturmukha Mahakala: The Earliest Known Painting!
Chaturmukha Mahakala is one of several principal forms of Mahakala in Buddhist Tantra. He is associated with the Guhysasamja Tantra as well as the Twenty-five and Fifty Chapter Mahakala Tantras.
This painting, dated mid to late 15th century, is the earliest work on the subject known to the HAR website team. It has always been considered very secret by the Sakya and related Traditions who practiced this form of Mahakala. Aside from the early date the painting is extremely interesting because of the lineage of teachers found at the top and upper sides of the composition. The top register contains the typical Sakya lineage of teachers for the Chaturmukha. However, the lineage then changes to the Jonang lineage and then ending with Je Tsongkapa and his two principal students Gyaltsab and Kedrub. Khedrub is the second to last figure in the succession of lineage teachers depicted on the right hand side. (See the identified lineage teachers).