The Esoteric Dance (Hevajra Father-Mother)

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Hevajra is an unexcelled yoga Tantra deity, perhaps closely related to the developments in the cult of Shiva Nataraja. Hevajra's art is considered especially valuable in kindling the central nervous system inner fury fire that melts the inner drops from brain to groin and generates the subtle subjectivity of great bliss so essential in Tantric practices in the perfection stage. Nairatmya Hevajra's consort is also a deity of subtle wisdom in her own right, a Tantric form of Prajnaparamita, Mother of all Buddhas.

Hevajra has sixteen-arms, eight faces and four legs. The eight faces indicate the purification of the eight releases. His four legs crush four maras, who symbolize the fourfold obstacles to enlightenment – the obstacle of the aggregated constituent elements of existence (skandhamara), the obstacle of egoistic entanglements (kleshmara), the obstacle of (mrityumara), and the obstacle of rebirth in the form of gods (devaputramara). According to a commentary of the Hevajra Tantra, four Hindu gods, Brahma, Yaksha, Yama, and Indra, respectively personify the four maras.

The sixteen arms of Hevajra signify the purification of the sixteen voidnesses. In each of his hands he hold a skullcup. Each of the cups in his right hands contain, starting with his principal hand and moving to the lower, an elephant, horse, ass, man, camel, ox, lion and cat. Those in the left hold Earth, Water, Air, Fire, Moon, Sun, Yama, and Vaishravana. The elements in the skulls held in the left hands are usually visually represented in human form as shown in the present painting.

Carrying skullcup in all of the hands is one of the most distinctive features of Hevajra. The skullcup represents the mind aspect of the body, speech, and mind notion. It also represents death and impermanence, the illusory nature of all the phenomena. The animals and gods in Hevajra's skullcup may symbolize a universal range of all matter and beings, alive, on earth, in the heavens. Thus, the sixteen skullcups collectively symbolize the sixteen voidness or shunyata .

Nairatmya, the consort of Hevajra has two hands and two legs. She is embracing Hevajra by her left hand, while the right hand holds a vajra-marked chopper. Her left leg is along with his, while her right leg is wrapped around his waist. Her expression is also wrathful. Both of them are adorned with bone ornaments and wear long garland of skulls. Nairatmya is wearing a skirt of tiger-skin.

The upper center of the painting is rendered with the figure of great siddha Tilopa, while the bottom center is with Jambhala (Vaishravana). Among the eight dancing dakinis surrounding Hevajra Father-Mother, four are depicted in the background, and the remaining four in the middle ground and foreground, respectively. These dakinis starting from the upper left corner are -

1. Chandali, holding wheel and plough

2. Pukkasi, holding boar and skullcup

3. Chauri, holding drum and wild boar.

4. Gauri, holding knife and bowl.

5. Shabari, holding snake and bowl

6. Ghasmari, holding snake and bowl

7. Dombi, holding vajra-marked chopper and fish

8. Vetali, holding conch and fan.

The painting is very much suitable for esoteric sadhana and practices. All the figures are brilliantly drawn.

Select Bibliography

A. Getty, The Gods of Northern Buddhism, Tokyo, 1962

B. Bhattacharyya, The Indian Buddhist Iconography,Calcutta, 1968

J.C. Huntington and D. Bangdel, The Circle of Bliss: Buddhist Meditational Art, Ohio, 2004

Marylin M. Rhie & Robert A.F. Thurman, Worlds of Transformation: Tibetan Art of Wisdom and Compassion, New York, 1999

R. Linrothe & J. Watt, Demonic Divine: Himalayan Art and Beyond, New York, 2005

This description is by Dr. Shailendra K. Verma, whose Doctorate thesis is on "Emergence and Evolution of the Buddha Image (From its inception to 8th century A.D.)".

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Unveiling the Divine Art: Journey into the Making of Thangkas

A Thangka is a traditional Tibetan Buddhist painting that usually depicts a Buddhist Deity (Buddha or Bodhisattva), a scene, or a mandala. These paintings are considered important paraphernalia in Buddhist rituals. They are used to teach the life of the Buddha, various lamas, and Bodhisattvas to the monastic students, and are also useful in visualizing the deity while meditating. One of the most important subjects of thangkas is the Bhavacakra (the wheel of life) which depicts the Art of Enlightenment. It is believed that Thangka paintings were developed over the centuries from the murals, of which only a few can be seen in the Ajanta caves in India and the Mogao caves in Gansu Province, Tibet. Thangkas are painted on cotton or silk applique and are usually small in size. The artist of these paintings is highly trained and has a proper understanding of Buddhist philosophy, knowledge, and background to create a realistic and bona fide painting.

The process of making a thangka begins with stitching a loosely woven cotton fabric onto a wooden frame. Traditionally, the canvas was prepared by coating it with gesso, chalk, and base pigment.

After this, the outline of the form of the deity is sketched with a pencil or charcoal onto the canvas using iconographic grids. The drawing process is followed in accordance with strict guidelines laid out in Buddhist scriptures. The systematic grid helps the artist to make a geometrical and professional painting. When the drawing of the figures is finalized and adjusted, it is then outlined with black ink.

Earlier, a special paint of different colors was made by mixing powdered forms of organic (vegetable) and mineral pigments in a water-soluble adhesive. Nowadays, artists use acrylic paints instead. The colors are now applied to the sketch using the wet and dry brush techniques. One of the characteristic features of a thangka is the use of vibrant colors such as red, blue, black, green, yellow, etc.

In the final step, pure gold is coated over some parts of the thangka to increase its beauty. Due to this beautification, thangkas are much more expensive and also stand out from other ordinary paintings.

Thangka paintings are generally kept unrolled when not on display on the wall. They also come with a frame, a silken cover in front, and a textile backing to protect the painting from getting damaged. Because Thangkas are delicate in nature, they are recommended to be kept in places with no excess moisture and where there is not much exposure to sunlight. This makes them last a long time without their colors fading away. Painting a thangka is an elaborate and complex process and requires excellent skills. A skilled artist can take up to 6 months to complete a detailed thangka painting. In earlier times, thangka painters were lamas that spent many years on Buddhist studies before they painted.