This figure of a fierce and winged deity holds in his right hand a vajra “diamond-lightning” and in the left a scorpion. The lower half of his body consists of a blade of “ritual dagger” Kila, Phur-bu, which pierces in the lower part a liñga (effigy) located in a triangular sacrificial area. Subject to different interpretations, the identification of this statuette seems uncertain, nevertheless, D.I. Lauf sees in it Gu -Ru drag-dmar, under its particular aspect of Padmasambhava. This work, made with the technique of lost wax, gilded with mercury and enhanced with polychromy was placed on a wooden base of triangular section.
The command or execution of religious representation is considered an act of great piety. It is added to the list of actions that will be judged and taken into account in future rebirths of a soul. The making of such plays follows a strict ritual, interspersed with prayers and various liturgical acts. The divine image is then consecrated and makes it possible to materialize the god in the eyes of the devotees and thus to help them in their acts of piety. They become true media of worship, facilitating the evocation of divinity during rituals or meditation sessions. These figurations obeyed the iconographic imperatives mentioned in treaties, and on which depended the guarantee of the cultural value of the statuette.
The current state of knowledge does not allow to accurately locate this work in a historical, regional or chronological context.
Text according to G. Beguin.
Details
- Title : Padmasambhava, in its aspect Gu-Ru drag-dmar
- Year : 17th-18th century
- Classification : Sculpture
- Medium : Gilded Copper and partly Polychrome Wood
- Dimension : 0.59 x 0.40 x 0.23 cm
- Accession No : MA 5201
- Country/ Geo-location : Nepal
- Collection : The Guimet Museum of Asian Art
- Credit Line : Donation with usufruct L. Fournier