The Buddhist deity Mahakala as a Brahman

Mahakala, portrayed here as an old man with flowing white hair, is clad in a flayed human skin, which symbolizes the transcendence of human limitations. His objects for overcoming obstacles include a trident, a skull bowl, a string of prayer beads in the shape of skulls, and a thighbone trumpet. Next to him are a flaming sword and a curved knife resting on a water vase. Surrounding him in a sea of flames are four female acolytes, who are symbolically disemboweling enemies of the religion. One of the Eight Guardians of the Buddhist Doctrine, Mahakala has more than seventy different forms. He appeared in the form seen here to the Sakya Lama Phagpa (1235-1280) to help the lama convert the Mongol emperor Kubilai Khan and his subjects to Buddhism.

Depicted above Mahakala are the Buddha Vajradhara (center); the abbot Kunga Zangpo, founder of the Ngor monastic lineage, a subsect of the Sakya Order (left); and the abbot's student Gorumpa (right). At the bottom of the painting is an image of a skull bowl filled with a wrathful offering of the five senses: eyes for sight, ears for sound, nose for smell, tongue for taste, and heart for touch. An inscription on the back of the painting says that it was once housed in the Zilnon Pavilion of Evam Choden, the original monastery of the Ngor lineage, which was founded by Kunga Zangpo in 1429.