Dharmapala Thangka CentreTibetan Antiques

This tsa tsa shows a Dakini [or »sky dancer« in Tibetan མཁའ་འགྲོ། »air« or »sky walker«]. She is a spirit being in the mythology of Tantra in Hinduism and Buddhism who takes the souls of the dead to heaven. The Dakinis of Tibetan Buddhism are female beings with a very changeable, sometimes fierce temperament, who act as an inspiration for spiritual practice. They can appear as peaceful, wrathful and mixed peaceful-wrathful figures. They represent the encouragement and inspiration for the spiritual path and at the same time control the spiritual progress of Dharma practitioners.

Traces of light-coloured sand on the surface of the tsa tsa show that it has clearly been lying in a stupa as a filler for a long time. As the iconography of the Dakini has not changed for a long time, it is difficult to determine its age. However, the stated period of origin of the 19^th - 20^th century is probably more or less correct. A later date is also possible, but would not be certain.

The Dakini carries a »Khatvanga« staff [the sceptre of power] in the crook of her left arm. In her right hand she holds a Tibetan cleaver [»Katrka«]. A »Katrka« is a weapon for destroying demonic enemies and at the same time a symbol for cutting off negative attachments.

With her left foot she is trampling on a human body. This symbolically represents the trampling of the personifications of suffering that cause beings to rotate in the world of »Samsara« and are caused by an unlucky birth. »Samsara« refers to the cycle of birth, death and rebirth, also known as reincarnation.