Shizhongshan Grottoes Niche 6: Mahakala
Stone
Shizhongshan Grottoes Niche 6: Mahakala
CHINA, Yunnan, Dali; Nanzhao to Dali period
Mahakala is located on the left end of Niche 6. His four arms are mostly destroyed, but a chain of skulls hangs from his left shoulder. The remaining hand holds an alms bowl made of a skull in front of his chest. His lower garment is adorned with an image of a beast’s head with fangs showing.
Among the Bai ethnic group, Mahakala enjoyed a majestic status and was highly regarded for deliverance from calamities and for protection. He became one of the most important protective figures for Buddhists in the Nanzhao (752–902) and Dali (937–1253) kingdoms.
For more details, go to the Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Caves Mo-S, page 1392.
Cite this article:
Hsingyun, et al. "Shizhongshan Grottoes Niche 6: Mahakala." Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Caves Mo-S, vol. 8, 2016, pp. 1392.
Hsingyun, Youheng, Peter Johnson, Mankuang, Susan Huntington, Gary Edson, and Robert Neather. 2016. "Shizhongshan Grottoes Niche 6: Mahakala" In Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Caves Mo-S, 8:1392.
Hsingyun, Youheng, Johnson, P., Mankuang, Huntington, S., Edson, G., & Neather, R.. (2016). Shizhongshan Grottoes Niche 6: Mahakala. In Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Caves Mo-S (Vol. 8, pp. 1392).
@misc{Hsingyun2016,
author = Hsingyun and Youheng and Johnson, Peter and Mankuang and Huntington, Susan and Edson, Gary and Neather, Robert,
booktitle = {Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Caves Mo-S},
pages = 1392,
title = {{Shizhongshan Grottoes Niche 6: Mahakala}},
volume = 8,
year = {2016}}
author = Hsingyun and Youheng and Johnson, Peter and Mankuang and Huntington, Susan and Edson, Gary and Neather, Robert,
booktitle = {Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Caves Mo-S},
pages = 1392,
title = {{Shizhongshan Grottoes Niche 6: Mahakala}},
volume = 8,
year = {2016}}