Mahakala Four Armed


Edition
Length

Image Sizes

Paper/Canvas Sizes
100
40"x56.5"
44"x61"
500
17.25"x24"24"x30"
Open
6.75"x9.5"8.5"x12"
Artist: Unknown
Release of Edition: 17 June 2006
Medium: Limited Edition Giclee Prints
Material: Matte UV-protected Canvas or 225gsm Ultrasmooth Fine Art Rag Paper, Ultrachrome Ink
Markings: Embossed with the MiMa Publishers stamp and numbered
Certificate of Authenticity: Available on request




detail of max. size at 1:1

17.25"x24" Enlargement:

(At 72dpi this enlargement is only one tenth of the resolution of the print on paper. Added to that, it's a compressed jpeg, so the resulting image on the screen only hints at the clarity and detail of the print.)


Mahakala Four Armed
(Skr. Chaturbhuja, Tibetan: gon po chag shi pa. English: the Great Lord with Four Hands): wrathful protector of Buddhism.

The method of painting is called 'nag thang,' (black scroll) gold outline on a black background.

With one face and four hands, he is extremely wrathful in appearance. The first pair of hands hold a coconut fruit and a skullcup filled with blood. The second right hand holds upraised a sword blazing with wisdom fire and in the left a katvanga staff topped with a trident. Gold-Black hair flows upward as he stares with glaring red eyes and a wide gaping mouth. Adorned with the bone, gold and jewel ornaments of a wrathful deity he wears a necklace of fifty freshly severed heads. Seated in the relaxed 'vira' (hero) posture on a sun disc The buddha Vajradhara sits at the crown of the head. The left held to the side holds a katvanga staff with a trident tip. Adorned with a crown of five white skulls, earrings, necklaces, bracelets and the like, the lower body is wrapped in a tiger skin skirt with the right leg pendant and the left drawn up. He sits completely surrounded by a ring of black & gold flames - the fires of pristine awareness.

"From a red-black mandala of fire, above a lotus, sun, moon and corpse, with one face and four hands, seated in a relaxed posture: homage to the Great Black One." (Nyingma liturgical verse).

As a wrathful form of enlightenment, a wisdom deity and buddha, he appears as a protector for Vajrayana Buddhism. There are many forms of this particular Mahakala in both Nyingma and Sarma traditions. The pandita and mahasiddha Nagarjuna originally popularized the practice. In the Sarma Schools Chaturbhuja is strongly related to the Chakrasamvara cycle of Tantras and Mahamudra.

Notes by Bhikshu Karma Tinley, who gratefully acknowledges the Himalayan Art Library.


THANGKAS FOR CHARITABLE DONATIONS

These Thankas are not for sale, but will be given to individuals and organisations who support by donation The Dharma Fellowship Hermitage Meditation Retreat on Denman Island, Canada, or the sponsorship programs for Tibetan refugee children and monks administered by the Dharma Fellowship.

To find out more about the Hermitage and to make a donation please visit www.dharmafellowship.org

To find out more about their work and get involved with sponsorship please visit www.dharmafellowship.org/charitablework

The donor may choose a Thangka from the catalogue presented here. They are being given in three sizes:
1) For a donation of $2500 or more: At an image size of 40" wide x up to 59" high, on canvas, coated with a UV and abrasion resistant liquid laminate, editions of 100. These can be hung like scrolls or stretched over wooden frames (known as "stretchers").
2) For a donation of $500 or more: On 24" x 30" watercolor/rag paper, editions of 500.
3) For a donation of $150 or more: On 8.5" x 12" heavyweight watercolor/rag paper, open editions.

All editions have an archival rating of 61 - 108 years (depending on the paper/canvas used).

If you would like to know more about this donation scheme and receiving a Thangka please email thangkas@dharmafellowship.org
Questions? Call 1-877-335-8111 or email contact@mimagallery.com.      © Copyright MIMA Fine Art Publishers, Inc., 2005.