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Important 18th-Century consecrated image of Six-Armed Mahakala – "the great black protector".

Size: 11 inches (27.8 cm)  Tall

Weight 493 g

Price: On Request

Shipping Price: To be discussed later with buyer.

Item Number:W149

This is a rare and important carving of the pre-eminent Mongolian Buddhist protector Six-Armed Mahakala. This image has an impressive and powerful presence and is a beautifully preserved wood-carving full of vitality and movement. Both carving and paintwork show great sensitivity and the depiction itself is iconographically correct. Significantly the deity is also draped in an antique mala (with silver counters) as a sign of reverence and its role in ritual meditation practice. This deity grants protection from external and internal interferences and assists in the development of one's Dharma practice.

Mahakala the "great black protector" is a Dharmapala (protector of dharma") in Mongolian Buddhism and is typically black in colour -  symbolizing his all-embracing, comprehensive nature. The Six-Armed Mahakala is favoured by the Gelugpa order (which is prevalent in Mongolia ) and in this form is considered to be a fierce and powerful emanation of Avalokiteśvara -  the bodhisattva of compassion.

There are as many as seventy-five different manifestations of Mahakala – each with a different origin and name. Mahakala is almost always depicted with a crown of five skulls, which representing the transmutation of the five negative afflictions into the five wisdoms. The most notable variation in Mahakala's manifestations and depictions is in the number of arms, but other details can vary as well.

The six-armed Mahakala shown here is adorned with the following symbolic attributes:

  1. He wears the five-skull crown and the Six Arms signify the successful completion of the six perfections (shad-paramita), which are practiced and brought to perfection by bodhisattvas during the course of their training.
  2. there are various implements in each hand (upper right hand holds rosary and elephants foot; Lower right hand holds drum; two main hands hold a chopper and blood-filled skull cup; upper left hand holds a trident; lower left hand holds vajra lasso).
  3. he wears a necklace of freshly severed human heads, a tiger-skin loincloth and he stands upon Vinakaya – the king of obstacles (who has a human body, an elephant head and holds a skull cup)

    Altogether this statue is a profound example Mongolian Buddhism ritual art.

 

 

If you would like to see more pictures, please don't hesitate to ask and I will send you a zip file full of them.

 

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