Heruka in union
  See it in the Museum
Emporium
Orientation 2
Furniture 6

ABS 273

 Code: ABS 273

  Country: Tibet

  Style:

  Date: 1400 - 1500

  Dimensions in cm WxHxD: 4 x 5.4 x 3

  Materials: Gilt copper

Heruka in union

The deity strides out in the warrior posture. He has four arms and one face. With two of his hands, he wields a staff and a dagger (?), embracing his mystic consort with the other two arms, holding the vajra and the bell crossed behind her back. The consort wraps her right leg around his waist and embraces him with her left hand while wielding the curved blade of the flaying knife with her other hand. Both are naked, clad only in the bone ornaments of the charnel grounds. 

The unusual shape of the deity, its small size, as well as the simple design of the pedestal (no lotus flower, no "corpses" to tread on...) could indicate that it belongs to a larger ensemble. It could be a form of Heruka situated in the outer circle of the Samvara mandala.