The Buddhist deity Mahakala as Lord of the Tent

The staff held horizontally across this figure's arms identifies him as the Lord of the Tent (Gurgyi gonpo), the form of Mahakala worshiped by nomads in Tibet and Mongolia. Surrounding him are the goddess Ekajati holding a vase of ambrosia (top right); the goddess Penden Lhamo on her mule (bottom right); Mahakala as a Brahman (bottom left); and the guardian deity Vajrapani and his thunderbolt (top left). Below them are depicted five attendant deities in a firestorm, while three teachers of the Sakya Order of Tibetan Buddhism are shown floating on a "visionary cloud" above.

The form of Mahakala shown here is a special guardian to the Sakya Order.