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1007
A COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF NAGARAJA
DENSATIL MONASTERY, CENTRAL TIBET, 14TH/15TH CENTURY
Himalayan Art Resources item no. 4725
42 cm (16 1/2 in.) high

HKD800,000 - 1,000,000
丹薩替 藏中 十四/十五世紀 那伽銅像

The Kagyu monastic complex in Densatil, southeast of Lhasa, was founded in
1108, after the spiritual teacher Pagmodrupa Dorje Gyalpo travelled to the area
near the Northern banks of the Tsangpo river. Pupils gathered at his side to form a
simple monastery originally of grass huts, but after his death in 1170 the monastic
complex was enlarged and a temple built.

From the mid-14th century, Densatil was ruled by the Phagmogrupa family, one
of the most powerful ruling families of the time in Tibet. The family sought to
extend its influence with a series of high-level gift exchanges with the Chinese
emperors, and eventually they came to rule almost all of Tibet. Their wealth and
influence is demonstrated by the astonishingly high quality of art produced under
their patronage. The Densatil monastery became one of the richest in Tibet, and
was renowned in particular for its metalwork and paintings by Newar artists from
Nepal. Traces of the lavish jewels seen here, and almost all other Densatil style
sculptures, are tributes of the traditions of Newari trademark styles.

The iconic image of the serpent king, or nagaraja, the mythological water guardian,
is depicted in the distinctive kneeling posture of supplication. As one who inhabits
the watery world below, the lifted arms and tilted head along with the contorted
posture with the back leg bearing weight on the knee and foot turned skyward,
is the protector of all the earth’s treasures. This emblematic appearance of
nagaraga sculptures from Densatil, would have adorned a stupa, or tashi gomang.
Populating the sixth tier of the stupa, they would have been grouped together
with other protective figures including the Four Guardian Kings and dharmapalas,
and placed in the position of the four intermediate directions. For photographic
references of the tashi gomang of Densatil with nagarajas in situ, see Olaf Czaja
and Adriana Proser, Golden Visions of Densatil: A Tibetan Buddhist Monastery,
New York, 2014, pp. 38-9.

Other depictions of nagarajas, now in worldwide collections and institutions, share
in the sensuous, yet dynamic form bearing the hallmarks of Densatil style, though
variations occur. Bearing similarities in facial structure in the square shape, the
wide-rims of eyes, articulated nose, and delicately shaped mouth with another
published in van Alpen, Cast for Eternity, Antwerp, 2005, p. 184, fig. 59. Leafy
pendants hang along the belt in a similar fashion to that of another nagaraja in the
Asia Society, New York (see Estournel, “About the 18 stupas and other treasures
once at the Densatil monastery, http://asianart.com/articles/densatil, fig. 151). The
U-shaped necklace, unusual for its kind which is more commonly presented as
an interlocked X-shape, relates to another frieze of the deity illustrated in Henss,
Cultural Monuments of Tibet, Vol I, 2014, p. 415, fig. 634a.

Published
Ge, “Xizang Dansatisi Niboer Liujintongfo [Nepalese Gilt Bronze Buddhist
Scuptures in Densatil, Tibet]”, in The National Palace Museum Monthly of Chinese
Art, Taipei, no. 260, 2004.11, pp. 14-23, fig. 25.

Provenance
Acquired from Peaceful Wind Gallery, Santa Fe, 1990s

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