assault of mara distemper on cloth nepal

Shakyamuni Buddha adorned with regal jewellery, seated in vajrasana at the temple complex of Bodh Gaya, the Bodhi tree rising behind, surrounded by the hordes of Mara engaged in distracting activities, with the earth goddess beneath the throne raising her right hand in salutation, chariots with Mara taking his leave below, an inscription dating the painting to 1559, registers above and at either side with narrative episodes, each identified by inscription, with a Vajracharya performing puja and the donor family beneath with Ganesha and Mahakala, the upper register now missing.

Hugo E. Kreijger, Kathmandu Valley Painting, The Jucker Collection, Boston, 1999, p. 48, no. 11.

The names of the donors mentioned in the inscription are now largely obliterated. However, it does record that they were three brothers and that they had the painting made in honour of their deceased parents in samvat 679 (1559). Compare a Nepalese paubha dated 1561 depicting the assault of Mara’s horde on the meditating Shakyamuni, now in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; see Pal, 1975, p. 27, no. 4.