Sakya Pandita Kunga Gyaltsen

CHINA, Tibet

The mid-18th century thangka from central Tibet features Sakya Pandita, the Fourth Patriarch of the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism. Originally named Kunga Gyaltsen, he studied under great Indian Buddhist teachers and mastered the five sciences, becoming a prolific writer and scholar. He was also regarded as a manifestation of Manjusri Bodhisattva.
Sakya Pandita wears a red ritual hood and a monastic robe decorated with gold patterns. Sitting in a dynamic pose on a throne, he forms a mudra with one hand and extends the other outwards. His right leg is pulled up against his body and his left foot rests on a low footrest. Below the blue nimbus, two naga’s heads are carved on the sides of the throne, and images of golden nagas decorate the blue backrest. Offerings are placed in front of the throne.
On the left, beside Sakya Pandita, three worshippers stand before a statue enshrined within a pavilion. Manjusri Bodhisattva, holding the sword of wisdom and a lotus topped with a scripture, is seated on a lotus throne in the upper left corner of the thangka. In the upper right corner is Jetsun Dragpa Gyaltsen, the Third Patriarch of the Sakya school. In the bottom left corner, surrounded by flames, the fierce Four-Armed Mahakala stands atop a prone figure. Naked, long-haired Harinanda, a famous Indian scholar who was defeated in debate by Sakya Pandita, sits on a bench in the bottom right corner. Detailed trees, rivers, animals, and mountains are painted in the background.