Lot 78 Dα

A Sinotibetan gilt bronze figure of Mahakala. 19th century

The wrathful deity with the hair rising in flames and a five-skull crown that represents the transformation of the mental poisons of hatred, greed, pride, envy and ignorance, is dressed in armour like a Mongolian warrior and hung with a chain of skulls, striding in pradyalidhasana on a base of turbulent waves. The fearsome protector holds a sword with a lobster-shaped hilt of the khadga sword in his raised right hand, the left wields the bleeding human heart of the defeated enemy up to his gaping mouth.
Height 11.3 cm