Provenance:
European Private Collection, acquired in 1998
The wood panel is deeply carved on the interior side with the five Tathagatas—Vairocana at the center flanked by Amitabha and Akshobhya, with Amoghasiddhi and Ratnasambhava at either end. Each of the cosmic Buddhas is seated in niches created by elaborate thrones with animals, apsaras, and Garuda figures (khyung), and supported by their respective animal vehicles below the lotus seat. The central rectangular panel is bordered by beading, stylized flames, and Lantsa script.
The five Tathagatas, Celestial Buddhas, comprise one of the most important groups of Esoteric Buddhist deities described in the Yoga Tantras. Each deity is associated with a color, direction, gesture, and vehicle: Vairochana (white, zenith, dharmachakra mudra, lion), Akshobhya (blue, east, bhumisparsha mudra, elephant), Amitabha (red, west, dhyana mudra, peacock), Ratnasambhava (yellow, south, vajra mudra, horse), and Amoghasiddhi (green, north, abhaya mudra, Garuda).
Tibetan manuscripts, whose format was inspired by Indian palm-leaf manuscripts, were originally contained between two wooden covers, which in turn were wrapped in cloth to protect them. These wooden covers were richly decorated, with the designs and iconography often indicating the contents of the scripture they contained.
It is difficult to underestimate the importance to Tibet and the Buddhist faith of these types of classical manuscript covers. As objects that once acted as the entrance to, and enabled the protection of, sacred Buddhist texts, they are regarded as part of the Dharma (the Teaching), and, as such, are to be revered as greatly as one would the Buddha.
