Potala Palace: Embroidery of Usnisa Sitatapatra

CHINA, Tibet, Lhasa

Usnisa Sitatapatra protects against supernatural dangers. This image portrays the goddess with two arms instead of the usual version which has a thousand arms and eyes.
The goddess has a high topknot adorned with jewels and a headdress. Her face is round with a third eye, and her earlobes are long with gold earrings. A two-band nimbus and a mandorla with a camellia pattern along the edge appear behind. The goddess wears a two-tone green stole and looks resplendent in a lower garment with colorful stripes. She sits in full lotus position on a lotus throne and holds her trademark parasol in her left hand. Lotuses appear among the blue and white waves below, and the bottom of the work is embellished with jewels, coral, gold, silver ingots, and rhinoceros horn. In the bottom corners, there are deer and cranes among the rocks.
Above Usnisa Sitatapatra, the sun and moon shine among the colorful and auspicious clouds. The colors of the embroidery are vibrant and the workmanship is exquisite.