Kurukulla

Tibet · 19th c.

THK · EDD080

Origin: Tibet
Period: 19th c.
Category: Appliqué
Medium: Silk, brocade, and embroidered threads
Dimensions: 142.2 × 119.4 cm
Museum: Metropolitan Museum of Art
Deities: Kurukulla

Notes

A large-scale appliqué thangka of Kurukulla, the Vajrayana goddess known as a beautiful bewitcher of men. Her red skin marks her as an emanation of the red Buddha Amitabha. Invoked for success in tantric ritual, Kurukulla is said to let the practitioner subdue or bewitch men of every rank — even kings — through the recitation of her mantra. As in late images of the deity, her four arms draw a bow with a flower-tipped arrow, echoing Kamadeva, the god of love. Like many fierce female protectors she wears a headdress of skulls and bone ornaments, dances upon a heap of corpses, and is framed by a garland of severed heads; a group of wrathful protectors appears below. The work is an outstanding, well-preserved example of Tibet's textile image-making tradition.