A THANGKA OF USHNISHAVIJAYA


TIBET, 19TH CENTURYDistemper on cloth. Himalayan Art Resources item no.88596 Image: 30 1/2 x 22 3/4 in. (77.5 x 58 cm);With silks: 59 1/4 x 33 3/4 in. (150.5 x 86 cm)
|西藏 十九世紀 尊勝佛母唐卡 Set within a verdant landscape, this beautiful thangka depicts Ushnishavijaya, the goddess of long-life, inside the dome of a richly embellished stupa. Appearing from the light emanated from Buddha's ushnisha, she has three faces, in white, yellow and blue, and eight arms each in different mudras or holding various attributes. On either side of the central stupa, white Avalokiteshvara and blue Vajrapani each hold a lotus flower and a fly whisk. They are surrounded by four near-identical blue-colored wrathful deities, differentiated only by the attributes in their hands – Acala with a sword, Takkiraja with a hook, Niladanda with a stick, and Vajrapani with a vajra. Above the blue and green mountains executed in the Chinese style, Shadakshari and Green Tara rise on either side, above whom Tsongkhapa and another Gelug teacher are each joined by two disciples. In the foreground, Shri Devi Magzor Gyalmo, Yama Dharmaraja, and Vaishravana gather around the stupa base. Compare to a related composition, also with Ushnishavijaya in a large central stupa against a green landscape, in the collection of Shelley and Donald Rubin (HAR 975).