Padmasambhava Triad

CHINA, Tibet

Padmasambhava is renowned as the first patriarch of Tibetan Vajrayana practices. This triad conforms to the traditional iconography for his figure. His eyes are wide open in a piercing gaze as he sits in full lotus position wearing monastic garb and a lotus hat upon his head. In his right hand is a vajra and in the left is a skull cup, while a tantric staff is cradled in the left arm. It consists of three severed heads surmounted by the ritual trident of a tantric practitioner. The base of the composition is a lotus pedestal with three stalks extending from it. The central bloom supports Padmasambhava, while mounted on auxiliary stalks to the right and left are two enlightened consorts, Mandarava and Yeshe Tsogyal, carrying a bowl and a vase.