Basgo Monastery Maitreya Hall Assembly Hall: Four Heavenly Kings and Dharma Protectors

INDIA, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh

These two murals flank the entrance on the south wall of the assembly hall on the first story of the Maitreya Hall. An inscription states that they were painted by Tontrup Lekpa, an artist from Spituk Monastery active in Phyang and Basgo during the late 16th century.
There are two Heavenly Kings and two Dharma protectors arranged in two rows in each mural. All of the Four Heavenly Kings are seated on lotus thrones and are dressed in robes and armor. The four Dharma protectors are wrathful, with wide eyes and exposed fangs. In the upper row of the mural on the right side of the door, Virupaksa, Heavenly King of the West is painted on the left and Vaisravana, Heavenly King of the North, is beside him on the right. The Dharma protector on the left below the Heavenly Kings stands on subdued demons and wears a crown and a long garland both decorated with skulls. The Dharma protector on the right with three faces, six arms, and a large belly stands with the feet spread wide, encircled by a flaming mandorla.
Dhrtarastra, Heavenly King of the East, is on the left and Virudhaka, Heavenly King of the South, is on the right in the upper row of the left mural. The Dharma protector on the left in the lower row wears a crown and stands upon a snake, while the ox-headed, human-bodied Dharma protector on the right stands on a blue ox.