This horizontal scroll (Bilampo) from Nepal features three dancing Buddhist deities framed within aureoles and interspersed with flowers. The white multi-armed goddess at the centre is the largest and most powerful figure and is probably White Tara (the Savioress); she has a third eye and holds a lotus in each of her 18 hands. The goddess is flanked by two bird-headed female attendants, one blue and one green, each wearing a necklace of human skulls and trampling a nude male figure (a symbol of ignorance). These are probably Dakinis, tantric sky dancers who play a supportive role in helping humans to overcome ignorance. This type of banner was and still is displayed outdoors, often on the walls of a temple, during festivals.
Details
- Title : Tantric Temple Banner of a Dancing Goddess Flanked by Dakinis
- Year : 1601–1700
- Classification : Painting
- Medium : Pigment and black ink on cloth
- Dimension : 124.5 x 231.1 cm (49 x 91 in.)
- Accession No : Reference Number 1984.1503
- Country/ Geo-location : Nepal
- Period : 17th century
- Collection : The Art Institute of Chicago
- Credit Line : James W. and Marilynn Alsdorf Collection
- Status : On View Asian Art, Gallery 140
- PROVENANCE : Gifted to the Art Institute of Chicago by Mr. James W. Alsdorf (died 1990), Chicago, Ill., December 27, 1984.