A RARE KAGYU NAKTANG OF MAHAKALA TIBET, 17TH CENTURY

the wrathful divinity lunging to its right in pratyalidasana trampling demons within a sea of blood, supported by a lotus base set on a rocky platform, flanked by Vaisravana and Palden Lhamo, with animal-headed equestrian spirits below and monkeys doing handstands and holding offering up with their feet, Vajrapani in the centre and Dam Chen riding the goat on the right, with the black hat Karmapa above and the red hat Sharmapa to the left and three further wrathful deities

This rare painting depicts Mahakala wearing an enveloping black cloak in the manifestation known as Gonpo Bernagchen, in which he serves as the special protector deity of the Karma Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism. Indeed a figure of the second Karmapa, Karma Pakshi (1204-1283) presides at the top centre of the painting seated with both hands outstretched before him in characteristic mudra. Tibetan Nagpa paintings are typically reserved for the ferocious aspects of the Yidam deities, the guardians of the dharma and the mountain spirit deities of pre-Buddhism. Compare the format of a 16th century black ground painting of Yama in the Musée Guimet, see Gilles Béguin, Art ésotérique de l’Himâlaya, Paris, 1990, p. 128, cat no. 71.