Ranyi Monastery: Sitatapatra

CHINA, Tibet, Ngari

Sitatapatra is a protective deity in Vajrayana Buddhism and is often portrayed in a Thousand-Armed form, although here, the figure only has six arms. The three hands on the right hold a staff, a lotus, and prayer beads. The hands on the left seemed to have lost the attributes they carried, one of which may have been the white parasol by which Sitatapatra is principally known. The lowest left hand is in varada (wish-granting) mudra.
Sitatapatra’s hair is confined behind a jeweled crown and spills down over the shoulders. A third eye is located on the forehead with long earlobes touching the shoulders and the three lines are visible on the neck. A sacred thread hangs down the chest and an animal skin winds about the leg of the figure and overhangs the lotus throne. The encircling mandorla is of the same design as on the neighboring statue of Avalokitesvara.