076
The Heruka Buddha, Vajra Heruka and Wrathful Deities of the Bardo (The "Interval"
Between Death and Rebirth)
Thangka, painting
Cotton support with opaque mineral pigments in waterbased (collagen) binder
24.0 x ~29.0 inches
Indeterminate region
Ca. 18th or 19th century
Folk tradition
This painting of Vajra-Heruka is one of a set of five depicting the five
Herukas who manifest in the second stage of the Bardo visions. In each painting,
the identical set of sixteen wrathful attendant goddesses surround the central
figure. Vajra-Heruka is the angry nature of the Buddha Vajrasattva-Akshobhya.
Cathleen Cummings
Museum #: 92.053
Huntington Archive Image Scan #: T1076