Page 72 - Bonhams Indian and Himalayan Art March 2016 New York

38 1. Essence Hevajra 10. Dombini
A THANGKA OF HEVAJRA 2. Vajra Nairatmya 11. Shavari
Central Tibet, 17th century 3. Vajradhara 12. Ghashmari
Distemper on cloth. 4. Tilopa 13. Chauri
38 3/4 x 28 1/2 in. (98.5 x 72.5 cm) 5. Naropa 14. Speech Hevajra
$30,000 - 50,000 6. Chandali 15. Body Hevejra
7. Pukkashi 16. Mind Hevajra
西藏中部 十七世紀 喜金剛唐卡 8. Vetali L. Lineage Teachers
9. Gauri
At the center of this arresting thangka, Hevajra and his consort
Nairatmya dissolve in yabyum into complete interpenetrative union.
He is the unexcelled yoga tantra deity and she is a tantric form of
Prajnaparamita, the Mother of all Buddhas.

Surrounded by an immaculate flame-like mandorla, Hevajra’s sixteen
radiating arms carry skull cups containing eight animals and eight
deities representing the Eight Diseases and relief from them. Among
them is a bad-tempered cat, representing liver disease, a blue
sharabha (disease of the spleen), red man (smallpox), ash-colored
camel (leprosy), red bull (brain hemorrhage), blue horse (insanity),
and white elephant (lung disease). The eight deities face outward,
bestowing health and good fortune to all sentient beings.

The crowned central deities wear nothing but finely outlined bone
aprons, and garlands of dried skulls and freshly severed heads. They
trample on the Hindu gods Brahma, Vishnu, Indra, and Shiva lying
prone on a beautiful lotus sun-disc detailed with gold dragons chasing
pearls amid clouds. Flanking the central figures are multicolored
dancing dakinis representing the eight further consorts that Hevajra
adopted from Rudra (an ancient Vedic name for the Hindu god
Shiva) after destroying him. Reborn through the crucible of Hevajra’s
consciousness, they now embody superlative states of being, such as
Pukkashi of limitless love, and Dombini of limitless equanimity.

In the top corners, a Karma Kagyu teaching lineage spreads out from
central Vajradhara through a chain of disciples starting with its first
mortal masters Tilopa and Naropa. At the bottom, repeated Hevajras
symbolize his consciousness at the level of body, mind, and speech.

The thangka is a brilliant example of the pure Khenri style in vogue
among the Central Tibetan Karma Kagyu lineage before it was
scattered and eclipsed by the Mongol-backed Gelugpa order during a
bitter power struggle in the first half of the 17th century. Karma Kagyu
thangka artists never recovered the pure Khenri style, instead the
order became famous for the works by The Tenth Karmapa Choying
Dorje (1604–1674) and The Eight Tai Rinpoche Situ Panchen (1700–
74). Thus, its style squarely dates the thangka within the 17th century.

Originating in the 15th century, the Khenri style is recognized by the
use of bright and saturated colors, the fine delineation of details, and
the near perfect aureoles behind figures. For another Khenri style
Hevajra thangka with comparable palette, see himalayanart.org/
items/61137. Also compare a Sakya painting of Mahakala Pajnarantha
published in Thurman & Rhie, Wisdom and Compassion, New York,
1996, pp.222-4, no. 71.

Referenced
HAR - himalayanart.org/items/61401

Provenance
The Bortolot Collection
Acquired from Navin Kumar Gallery, New York, September 1984

70 | BONHAMS