ABS 051
Code: ABS 051
Country: Tibet
Style:
Date: 1500 - 1600
Dimensions in cm WxHxD: 11.6 x 20.4 x 11.4
Materials: Brass
Simhamukha
The red Simhamukha (tib.: Senge Dongma) - the lion faced dakini - is regarded as a hidden, wrathful form of Padmasambhava (Guru Rimpoche). She has three eyes, because she knows past, present and future.
The goddess dances with her left foot (pratyalidha) on a corps that lies within a yantra with flaming borders on a circular single lotus pedestal. She wears a tiger-skin loin cloth and a scarf made of human and elephant skin. She is crowned with skulls and adorned with snakes, bone ornaments, and wears a garland of severed heads (mundamala). She wields a ritual chopper with a vajra handle (vajrakartrika) with the raised right hand; in her left she holds a skull-cup (kapala).
The ceremonial staff (khatvanga) originally held in the crook of the elbow is lost. She is encircled by a ribbon-like scarf, its brownish copper contrasting the yellowish brass of the statue.
Images of Simhamukha are rare. The inscription and the red lacquer painted at the back of the aureole are a clear indication that this image was commissioned by a Tibetan patron.
The red Simhamukha (tib.: Senge Dongma) - the lion faced dakini - is regarded as a hidden, wrathful form of Padmasambhava (Guru Rimpoche). She has three eyes, because she knows past, present and future.
The goddess dances with her left foot (pratyalidha) on a corps that lies within a yantra with flaming borders on a circular single lotus pedestal. She wears a tiger-skin loin cloth and a scarf made of human and elephant skin. She is crowned with skulls and adorned with snakes, bone ornaments, and wears a garland of severed heads (mundamala). She wields a ritual chopper with a vajra handle (vajrakartrika) with the raised right hand; in her left she holds a skull-cup (kapala).
The ceremonial staff (khatvanga) originally held in the crook of the elbow is lost. She is encircled by a ribbon-like scarf, its brownish copper contrasting the yellowish brass of the statue.
Images of Simhamukha are rare. The inscription and the red lacquer painted at the back of the aureole are a clear indication that this image was commissioned by a Tibetan patron.