The Lokapalas are royal guardians of the four directions, protectors of the dharma in their concentrated purity and power. Each commands a legion of supernatural creatures and is traditionally placed as anchor points at the entrance of Buddhist temples.

This antique white marble statue from 14th century China is a depiction of Virupaksha, the Guardian from the West, the one “who sees all’. Virupaksha’s color is red his followers are the Nagas. His traditional accouterments are a small stupa, the pearl and the serpent. Here sitting in royal ease and riding a lion, Virupaksha holds a stupa representative of the cosmos, the world and the five elements that sit in the palm of his hands. This statue, which conveys the dignity of time and the vitality of the deity, would have been found at the entrance of temples an object of ongoing adoration and notice over the last 500-600 years.