Nila Vajravidarana and the fifteen-deity mandala
  See it in the Museum
Emporium
Orientation 2
Wall object 3

ABP 040

 Code: ABP 040

  Country: Tibet (north-east)

  Style:

  Date: 1200 - 1250

  Dimensions in cm WxHxD: 51 x 64

  Materials: Glue distemper on cotton

Nila-Vajravidarana and the fifteen-deity of his mandala 

Nila Vajravidarana, “the blue Adamantine Subjugator” appears as a fierce meditational deity. Potbellied and blue-skinned with a wrathful expression, clad in a tiger skin, he stands in the warrior stance. His right hand brandishes a blazing vajra and his left holds the bell.

His fourteen secondary manifestations appear in the mass of blazing fire surrounding him along with a master, buddhas, bodhisattvas and protectors. Vajravidarana is closely connected to Vajrapani, bodhisattva of enlightened energy, who shares the same appearance.

This early and important thangka was allegedly discovered in the greater area of the Yellow River in North-Eastern Tibet (Amdo). Stylistically, it shows a distinct influence of the later Indian Pala tradition, something that is also visible in some of the paintings discovered at Khara-Khoto, former capital of the Tangut empire (also known as Western Xia) taken by the Mongols in 1226.