Chandra Mandala distemper on cloth Nepal

The moon god accompanied at the centre of a lotus by green male and female figures releasing arrows to either side of the chariot drawn by seven geese with Ambara holding the reins, the eight petals of the lotus each with a deity representing a planet, Manjusri at each corner flanked by auspicious emblems, a register of Buddhas above, Achala below with the Chakravartin flanked by a family of donors and a Vajracharya performing puja.



 

Hugo E. Kreijger, Kathmandu Valley Painting, The Jucker Collection, Boston, 1999, p. 40, no. 7.

There is restrained formality in the composition of this fine painting in contrast to the flowing style of the earlier Jucker Chandra mandala, lot 3, where deities and emblems are encircled and linked by vines and tendrils. Compare a pair of manuscript covers dated by Dr. Pal to circa 1450, which he in turn relates closely to the important Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s Nepalese Vishnu mandala dated 1420; see Pal, 1985, p. 210, no. P14, and p. 207, no. P11.