Dharmapala Thangka CentreSchool of Thangka Painting

This Thangka shows the dark blue winged Chemchok Heruka [Skt. Mahottara Heruka; Tib. ཆེ་མཆོག་, ཆེ་མཆོག་ཧེ་རུ་ཀ་, Wyl. che mchog he ru ka] with three faces, six arms, and four legs. He embraces his bright blue consort Namshyalma [Tib. གནམ་ཞལ་མ་, Wyl. gnam zhal ma] in sexual union [yab-yum].

He is the terrific form of Samantabhadra, the primordial form of the Nyingma Order. Herukas represent the embodiment of indivisible bliss and emptiness.

Below him we see in center the winged Guru Dragmar [Padmasambhava manifestation]. Without legs, the lower body is composed of a large black kila [Tibetan: »phur ba«].

We also see five wild animal-headed deities in two rows. They belong to the »Bardo Thödol« [commonly known in the West as the »Tibetan Book of the Dead«]. The »Bardo« is an intermediate, transitional, or liminal state between death and rebirth. In the »Bardo«, these visions appear from the stream of consciousness of the deceased. The Tibetan Book of the Dead describes the 49-day period between death and rebirth of a person. The deities appear to the deceased during his time in the »Bardo«. The Book of the Dead intended to both guide the recently deceased person through the death bardo to gain a better rebirth and also to help their loved ones with the grieving process.