Khara Khoto: Vajravarahi

CHINA, Inner Mongolia, Alxa; Western Xia period

This thangka of Vajravarahi is one of the finest images discovered in Khara Khoto. Vajravarahi is usually shown as the consort of Cakrasamvara, but in this thangka she stands on her own. She has three eyes and a red body. Her crown is topped with five skulls, a Dharma wheel, a half moon, and a gem. On the left beside her head, an image of a blue sow, representing triumph over ignorance, is obscured by damage. Vajravarahi’s body is adorned with exquisitely painted white jewelry. A white stole decorated with floral patterns flutters above her shoulders. The long garland of fifty human heads draped around her neck symbolizes the severing of the roots of all mental illusions. Vajravarahi holds a skull cup in her left hand, a ceremonial knife in her right hand, and a tantric staff in the crook of her left arm. She stands with her right leg raised and her left foot balanced on a red pedestal atop a prone figure. The red mandorla is decorated with flame patterns and surrounds six dakinis, each depicted standing on a flat yellow figure. Eight images from the Jataka tales are painted in the blue space above the mandorla.
In the middle of the upper register, Cakrasamvara is shown embracing Vajravarahi. They are flanked by two colorful dakinis on each side. Ten monks and mahasiddhas are painted within rectangles on the sides of the image. The cartouches beside these figures are left blank. One of the figures embraces a small green deity, another points up at a red disc, and others are shown sitting atop a tiger and an elephant. Six dakinis, each holding a golden tray of offerings and wearing a white stole, are painted at the bottom of the thangka.