This sculpture depicts the protector Mahakala. He represents a violent and vengeful aspect of the Hindu god Shiva absorbed by Buddhism as a guardian of the faith (‘dharmapala’).
Here Mahakala stands astride the prostrate figure of a corpse. His face radiates his wrathful nature. His wide eyes glare, his gaping mouth reveals fangs, and a garland of severed heads hangs above his knees. His hair is represented as flames, rising horrifically above a snake ornament. Entwined snakes also form his armlets, bracelets, anklets and sacred cord. In his four hands he carries the flesh-cutter (‘karttrka’), skull-cup (‘kapala’), rosary and ‘trisula’ and skull-headed ritual staff (‘khatvanga’). These are the signifiers of his role.
Tantric Buddhism generated a proliferation of deities, benign and ferocious. Both were conceived as servants of the faith. But it was the wild and angry deities, typically demonic spirits subdued by Buddhism and henceforth willing servants of the faith, who retained their wrathful countenance in order to intimidate non-believers and those hostile to Buddhism.
Physical description
The powerful protector Mahakala stands squarely against a flame-edged arched background on a defeated long-haired foe, who is also being attacked by a small animal. He carries a chopper and skull-cup; his second pair of hands holds a skull-topped trident formed like the Buddhist
vajra and noose. His hair rises horrifically above a snake, and his armlets, bracelets, anklets and sacred cord are all snakes. He is wearing heavy circular earrings and a circlet on his head with side cockades and uplifted streamers. He also has a necklace and a girdle below his waist over which spills his protruding paunch. His eyes stare fiercely with a third eye in between. He has a curling moustache over his open mouth which is fanged, and a garland of severed heads hangs down to his knees.
Place of Origin
Orissa, India (eastern, made)
Date
12th century (made)
Artist/maker
Unknown (production)
Materials and Techniques
Porphyritic basalt
Dimensions
Height: 119 cm, Width: 58 cm, Depth: 30 cm, Weight: 290 kg
Object history note
Bought from Mr L. Wickes for £35
Historical context note
The protector Mahakala, a violent and vengeful aspect of Siva absorbed by Buddhism as a guardian of the faith (dharmapala). Such borrowings from Hinduism into Buddhist imagery became common in the late phase of Buddhist development in Eastern India as the more esoteric stream of Buddhist practice gained ascendency. Images such as this Mahakala became, in turn, the source for many of the fierce deities of Himalayan Buddhism, the elaborate pantheon of Tibetan Buddhism, drawing heavily on the imagery of Eastern India
Descriptive line
Mahakala, basalt, Orissa, India, 12th century
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
W Zwalf: Buddhism - Art and Faith Robert Skelton & Mark Francis (eds), Arts of Bengal, text by Robert Skelton, John Lowry, Andrew Topsfield, Veronica Murphy and Susan Stronge, London: Whitechapel Art Gallery 1979, no 8, p 26, ISBN 0 85488 047 X John Guy, Indian Temple Sculpture, V&A, 2007, pl 148, pg 133 ISBN 978 185177 5095 Guy, John (ed.).: ‘L’Escultura en els Temples Indis: L’Art de la Devocio’, Barcelona : Fundacio ‘La Caixa’, 2007. ISBN 9788476649466. p.83, cat. 43.
The Dharmapala (Guardian of the Faith) Mahakala
Eastern India/ 12th century
Porphyriticbasalt/ 109cm high
One of the characteristics of the tantric phase of Buddhism was the proliferation of ferocious looking deities that were often described in the texts with gruesome details such as drinking blood and wearing a garland of heads. Often, as in this case, their fierceness was directed not at the worshipper but at the enemies of Buddhism. Eventually other forms of Mahakala grew up but this one, in very similar form, became the most popular outside India particularly in Tibet and Nepal.
See Lowry [1976] pl.15.
Exhibition History
Arts of Bengal (Whitechapel Art Gallery 30/12/1979-30/09/2011)
Production Note
Orissa, eastern India
Materials
Basalt
Techniques
Carving
Subjects depicted
Figures; Buddhism; Deities; Mahakala
Categories
Sculpture; Religion; Buddhism
Collection code
SSEA
