Printed from Woolley & Wallis

Description

A TIBETAN GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF GUHYASAMAJA AKSHOBHYAVAJRA
KANGXI 1662-1722

The three-headed and six-armed deity seated in dhyanasana on a layered petal base, wearing a dhoti incised with floral motifs at the hems, embracing Adhiprajna in his arms, her legs wrapped around his waist, each holding a vajra and ghanta in their primary hands and holding chakras, padmas and khadgas in their secondary hands, both looking at each other wearing foliate tiaras, one surmounted by a figure of Amitabha Buddha, and their hair tied in high chignons, 11cm.

Guhyasamaja Tantra is believed to have originated in the third or fourth century in India, with the teaching transmitted to Tibetans from the eleventh century onwards. Guhyasamaja, or 'Secret Assembly' describes practices of sexual yoga for transforming ordinary desire into self-transcendent compassion. Two sublime beings, male and female, are shown in ecstatic sexual embrace, signifying the transcendental state that one achieves through the completion of tantric instruction.

Cf. The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Buddhist Statues of Tibet, nos. 228, 229 & 230 for three related Kangxi-period gilt-bronze figures with similar layered petal bases.

清康熙 銅鎏金密集金剛