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Extremely Rare 18th Century Black Thangka of Five Personal Gods
" Health, wealth, luck and good fortune”.   

This thangka is painted in the “dpar-thang” style of gold paint on black background and depicts the Five Personal Gods of the Individual surmounted by the three most important Buddhist long life deities.. In Tibet and Mongolia it is believed that the Five Gods are born with and accompany each person on their life journey. They function as private Gods governing health, wealth, luck and good fortune for each person.

Across Mongolia this is a strong part of traditional folk belief systems and the Five Personal Gods is a very popular theme in home shrines. In particular, the female protector MoLha, shown here at the centre of the five gods, is worshipped widely and her image is frequently seen in ger shrines and held in protective amulets (gau) These five gods are:

• Srog Lha (Life God) is located in the heart. 
• Yul Lha (Regional God) is located at the crown of the headl.
• Po Lha (Male God) is located at the right armpit.
• Mo Lha (Female God) is located at the left armpit.
• Dra Lha (Enemy God) is located at the right shoulder.

In this particular thangka the five personal gods are surmounted by the more traditional Buddhist ctryptic deities of long life – White Tara, Amitayas and Ushnishvijaya. This is very unusual since the Five Personal Gods are more typically painted with Vajrapani – bodhisattva of the power of the Buddha. Symbolically it brings together the long life potency of the Personal Gods with the long life practices associated with the three key Buddhist deities of long- life.

The painting itself is mounted in a heavily patterned blue silk brocade featuring clouds and floral motifs. The protective silk curtains are wholly intact. Altogether, this thangka is in splendid condition with no losses and shows wear commensurate with age and devotional use. The gods and deities are powerfully drawn and arise with great potency from a black background depicting emptiness.

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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