Six-Armed Winged Mahakala with His Shakti

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The present painting is of winged form of Mahakala with his Shakti, in Yab-yum, with three face, six arms and four legs.

Mahakala's wings symbolize his adamantine nature. The principal hands hold a vajra and skull-cup and also embrace his consort. Mahakala's upper right arm brandishes a blazing sword and the lower one, a vase filled with many jewels. His upper left hand also carries a skull-cup, while the lower one, bow and arrow. Mahakala's hair is ablaze with a tuft tied with serpents and a crown of skulls. He wears a garland of freshly severed human heads, a tiger-skin skirt and steps on human figures representing obstacles on a lotus base. Moreover, he wears necklaces, earrings, bracelets, anklets, and ornaments of human bone; human and elephant skins.

His Consort has one face and two arms. Her right hand is behind the neck of Mahakala, while the left holds a skull-cup filled with demonic blood. Her right leg is extended along his, while the left leg is wrapped around his waist. Her hair falls loose. She also wears a skull crown, and is decorated with many ornaments. Her hips are covered with a tiger-skin. There is protective fire aureole behind the figures. On the top, Amitabha Buddha is seated, above the head of Mahakala.

According to a legend pertaining to Six-Armed Mahakala, the reason for his special power and effectiveness goes back to Avalokiteshvara's vow to Amitabha Buddha to remain in this world and not reach Buddhahood until all sentient beings are enlightened. After helping hundreds of thousands of people for countless years to reach enlightenment, Avalokiteshvara saw no decrease in suffering, but rather an increase in defilements. He then became discouraged. As soon as he had thought thus, his head immediately split into a thousand pieces. Amitabha put the pieces back together and made ten heads and put his own head on the top, telling Avalokiteshvara to make the same promise again but to keep it better. It is said that Avalokiteshvara fell unconscious for seven days from sadness, after which time he thought the world's suffering souls needed results in a hurry without excessive effort. He then wished to turn himself into a wrathful deity in order to defeat more rapidly and effectively the obstacles to happiness of others. With this thought the letter Hum in dark blue color came out of his heart. That Hum became the Six-Armed Mahakala. Immediately, there were six earthquakes. With one voice Amitabha and countless Buddha said that Mahakala would have the power to grant all wishes if the wishes were honest and good!

References:

Alice Getty, The Gods of Northern Buddhism, Tokyo, 1962

L.A. Waddell, Buddhism & Lamaism of Tibet, New Delhi, 1979 (reprint)

M.M. Rhie & R. A. F. Thurman, The Sacred Art Of Tibet, London, 1996

This description by Dr. Shailendra Kumar Verma, Ph.D. His doctorate thesis being on the "Emergence and Evolution of the Buddha Image (From its inception to 8th century A.D)."

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Unveiling the Divine Art: Journey into the Making of Thangkas

A Thangka is a traditional Tibetan Buddhist painting that usually depicts a Buddhist Deity (Buddha or Bodhisattva), a scene, or a mandala. These paintings are considered important paraphernalia in Buddhist rituals. They are used to teach the life of the Buddha, various lamas, and Bodhisattvas to the monastic students, and are also useful in visualizing the deity while meditating. One of the most important subjects of thangkas is the Bhavacakra (the wheel of life) which depicts the Art of Enlightenment. It is believed that Thangka paintings were developed over the centuries from the murals, of which only a few can be seen in the Ajanta caves in India and the Mogao caves in Gansu Province, Tibet. Thangkas are painted on cotton or silk applique and are usually small in size. The artist of these paintings is highly trained and has a proper understanding of Buddhist philosophy, knowledge, and background to create a realistic and bona fide painting.

The process of making a thangka begins with stitching a loosely woven cotton fabric onto a wooden frame. Traditionally, the canvas was prepared by coating it with gesso, chalk, and base pigment.

After this, the outline of the form of the deity is sketched with a pencil or charcoal onto the canvas using iconographic grids. The drawing process is followed in accordance with strict guidelines laid out in Buddhist scriptures. The systematic grid helps the artist to make a geometrical and professional painting. When the drawing of the figures is finalized and adjusted, it is then outlined with black ink.

Earlier, a special paint of different colors was made by mixing powdered forms of organic (vegetable) and mineral pigments in a water-soluble adhesive. Nowadays, artists use acrylic paints instead. The colors are now applied to the sketch using the wet and dry brush techniques. One of the characteristic features of a thangka is the use of vibrant colors such as red, blue, black, green, yellow, etc.

In the final step, pure gold is coated over some parts of the thangka to increase its beauty. Due to this beautification, thangkas are much more expensive and also stand out from other ordinary paintings.

Thangka paintings are generally kept unrolled when not on display on the wall. They also come with a frame, a silken cover in front, and a textile backing to protect the painting from getting damaged. Because Thangkas are delicate in nature, they are recommended to be kept in places with no excess moisture and where there is not much exposure to sunlight. This makes them last a long time without their colors fading away. Painting a thangka is an elaborate and complex process and requires excellent skills. A skilled artist can take up to 6 months to complete a detailed thangka painting. In earlier times, thangka painters were lamas that spent many years on Buddhist studies before they painted.