Footnotes

A THANGKA OF MAHARAKTA GANAPATI
NGOR MONASTERY, CENTRAL TIBET, 18TH CENTURY

俄爾寺 藏中 十八世紀 十二臂象鼻天唐卡

Provenance:
With Claude de Marteau, Brussels, by 1970s

On a central mountain plateau amid a verdant paradisical landscape, this rare emanation of Avalokiteshvara as Maharakta Ganapati dances feverishly atop his rat mount. His rhythmic prancing prompts the subservient rodent to disgorge wish-fulfilling gems (cintamani), many of which are ensconced throughout the foothills below. The prosperity and spiritual attainment Maharakta Ganapati can ensure is further evoked by the many gems set within his flaming mandorla and the swathes of lush, oversized flowers delicately rendered with gradated red, pink, and white washes.

Floating high above the clouds is the Buddha Ratnasambhava in communion with Ngor monastery's founder, Kunga Zangpo, together with patriarchs from the Sakya order, who are flanked by the meditational deities Chakrasamvara and Bhutadamara – a unique, Maharakta-related form of Vajrapani who brandishes a vajra battle standard. Residing within the mountains and valleys below is a retinue of wealth deities, some including the lion-seated Vaishravana overlooking a lakeside hamlet, and Aparajita, who sits at the base of a sloped cliff blanketed by mist and populated with grazing mountain goats. Centrally placed at the lower portion are the three Pishaci sisters, 'Yugu Chesum,' displaying wealth vases and jewels while relaxing underneath the shade of a large, fruit-bearing tree.

According to Watt on HAR, "This form of Ganapati belongs to a set of three powerful deities known as the 'mar chen kor sum' or the Three Great Red Deities included in a larger set called 'The Thirteen Golden Dharmas' of Sakya. The other two Great Red Ones are Kurukulla (of the Hevajra Tantra) and Takkiraja (of the Guhyasamaja Tantra)." The painting of Kurukulla probably from the same set of Thirteen Golden Dharmas as the present thangka is in the Navin Kumar Collection (HAR 8057) and bears an inscription stating that it was commissioned by a student of Sharchen Ludingpa Mingyur Gyaltsen (b.1717 [TBRC P5947]), the 37th abbot of Ngor Monastery. A later iteration of the present composition is in the Musée Guimet, Paris (Béguin, Les peintures du bouddhisme tibetain, 1995, p. 319, no. 229).