062
The Benefactor, Benag Gonpo ("Black-Cloaked Angry One")
Thangka, painting
Cotton support with opaque mineral pigments in waterbased (collagen) binder
15.0 x 21.75 inches
Amdo (Eastern Qinghai Province of China)?
Ca. 18th century
Indeterminate style
Benag Gonpo is one of the less common forms of Mahakala. He brandishes a demon-quelling kila, or ceremonial tent-stake (T. phur-pa), in his right hand. The figure is dressed in a green garment with leopard skin sleeves. On his back is the black robe of a necromancer. Directly above Benag Gonpo is Shadakshari Avalokiteshvara, the four-armed Bodhisattva of compassion and the progenitor of all forms of Mahakala. To Shadakshari's left is Padmasambhava, the founder of what became the Nyingma tradition.
Tom Suchan
Museum #: 93.017
Huntington Archive Image Scan #: T1064