Sino Tibetan Gilded Bronze Buddha Statue
Mahakala
Wealth Bestowing Six Armed Form
Qing Dynasty, circa: 19th century
H 14 in(35cm), W 8 in(20cm), D 5 in(12.5cm)
Condition: Good, missing attributes

A finely modeled and cast bronze of the wealth-bestowing Mahakala, with all details conforming to the one appearance in which he is always depicted. His body is white, his face wrathful, he has three eyes, and his half-smiling mouth is red. He has six arms; his main right hand holds a wish fulfilling jewel in front of his chest, his upper right hand should hold a chopper and his lower right hand plays a drum. His main left arm holds a skull cup with a vase in it filled with jewels. His upper left hand should hold a trident and his lower left hand should hold a vajra hook which here resembles a khatvanga. He wears the skin of an elephant on his shoulders, a garment of many scarves ornamented with bone beads and jewels, and a girdle of freshly severed heads. Beneath each foot is a deity with an elephant head carrying a radish in his hands, and a mongoose with jewels spitting from its mouth. In the crown on top of White Mahakala’s head there is an image of Vajradhara sitting cross-legged and holding a jewel, a bell and a vajra.

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The teachings of White Mahakala were brought to Tibet in the eleventh century and were passed down until they reached Tsong Kahpa in the fourteenth century. Tsong Khapa was known to give away generously what he received in offerings, but when in need he would turn to White Mahakala, performing the White Mahakala ritual which brings abundance to the needy practitioner concerned about family, material goods, food, power, knowledge and spiritual liberation.