LARGE ASTROLOGICAL PROTECTIVE THANGKA - Srid pa ho

Description:

Outer Mongolia, 19th ct,
93 x 68 cm
Tempera on cotton fabric. Extensive in content, this thangka depicts protective mandalas, astrological symbols, protective deities, numerous animal-headed and mounted deities of various ranks, underlaid with bands of black text in Tibetan script. At the top, in the centre, the founder of the Yellow School - Tsongkhapa - is depicted with his two disciples to his left and right. Next, to the right, are the Bodhisattva of Wisdom Manjushri, the four-armed Avalokitesvara Shadakshari and the blue-coloured Bodhisattva Vajrapani. To the left appear the Buddha of the Future Maitreya, the historical Buddha Shakyamuni and the great guru Padmsambhava. In the second row, from left to right, are the representations of a nagarajah with garuda wings, the six-armed sadbhuja Mahakala and the Buddha Nageshvaraja, with the seven serpents above his head. Opposite appear, from left to right, the wealth god Vaishravana and a local tutelary deity with vajra spear (r) and lance with pennant and skull bowl in his left hand. Between these protective deities is a protective wheel lined with flames of different colours, with a flowing text (prayer?) on a green ground, a circle with alternating vajras and the eight Buddhist auspicious signs highlighted in red. In the centre of the wheel are nine golden syllables in lantsha letters. In the lower part of the picture is the image of another magical circle of protection. It is depicted on the belly of a turtle holding the protective mandala with its four feet. In the mandala circle there are eight lotus leaves in different colours, with eight trigrams (pakua, oracle signs) Then follow: a red ring and a circle with twelve lotus leaves on which the twelve signs of the zodiac can be seen. This is followed by a throwing wheel on the knife edges of which, in turn, eight oracle signs are inserted. The wheel hub contains, in delimited fields, the symbols of the nine planets. Between the two protective wheels Kongtse Gyalpo can be seen enthroned on a turtle. He is identified with the Bodhisattva of Wisdom who taught Kongtse Gyalpo the calendar calculations. At the bottom, the four Lokapalas (world guardians) gather: Virudhaka (blue), Dhrtharashtra (white), Virupaksha (red) and Vaishravana (yellow). A yellow rectangular field contains a prayer text.
North German private collection, assembled prior 2007
Wear, traces of age