Provenance:
European Private Collection, acquired in 1996
Vairocana (the 'Great Illuminator') is an idealization of the central function of the Buddha as a teacher, without which there would have been no Buddhism and no path to enlightenment. He is the central figure of the Five Celestial Buddhas. Each deity is associated with a color, direction, gesture, and vehicle. Vairocana represents the center and is colored white.
This superbly-painted thangka depicts Vairocana seated in the gesture of Supreme Wisdom with the fingers of his left hand wrapped around the index finger of his right and resting on a lotus throne with multi-colored petals. Surrounded by a chorus of celestial beings, including myriad Buddhas and two standing Bodhisattvas, the deity is adorned with lavish accoutrements including crown, earrings, necklaces, armlets, anklets, and belt, and a lower garment of richly designed textiles. The throne is guarded by the ever-recurring lions and elephants and surmounted by a five-arc rainbow.
For a thangka of Akshobhya with a closely-related border of three registers inhabited by myriad small Buddhas see Pal, P., Himalayas, An Aesthetic Adventure, Chicago, 2003, no. 134. Also compare Jackson, D., Painting Traditions of the Drigung Kagyu School, New York, 2015, fig. 11.24, about which the author notes, similar to the present example, that: “This unusual painting shows an enormous assembly of monks arranged around a much larger central hierarch . . . the triple jewel on the throne and emerging from the makara’s mouth as well as the jewel buds used to terminate the vegetal scroll further reinforce a Drigung affiliation.”
