Magic Transistor

Rato Macchendranath Temple. Nepal. 1850.

This monumental work, one of the largest Nepalese scroll paintings (paubha) in the world, depicts the temple of Rato Macchendranath in the ancient kingdom of Patan in the Kathmandu Valley. In the center of the composition sits the Red Lord, known as either Rato Macchendranath or Red Padmapani Avalokiteshvara. In the registers above are scenes from the life story of Buddha Shakyamuni, accompanied by images of Hindu gods receiving his teachings. The many patrons and devotees are arranged in rows across the bottom registers, each in a pose of worship and wearing clothes of the time period. They are each identified by inscription

Mandala of the Moon God Chandra. Nepal. 1400s. 

Mandala of Vasudhara. Nepal. 1495.

Shiva Vishtarupa. Nepal. 1800s.

Siddha Lakshmi. Nepal. 1796. 

The fierce Siddha Lakshmi, a wrathful manifestation of the Hindu goddess Durga, was the protecting and guiding goddess of the Malla kings, who ruled Nepal’s Kathmandu Valley from the thirteenth through eighteenth century and their descendants. Here she is shown at the center of the composition standing on the hands of her consort, the great god Shiva, with her various forms occupying the registers above and below. Her name opens with the Sanskrit term “siddha” which indicates that she has mastered the art of accomplishment and as such she is appealed to by followers for the successful completion of projects.

Shiva Vishvarupa. Nepal. 1850s.   

Shiva is one of Hinduism’s major gods and the supreme god of the Shaivite sect, worshipers devoted primarily to him. He takes many forms—ascetic, destroyer, conqueror of death, cosmic dancer—and this painting presents him as Vishvarupa, “universal form” or “form of the world.” In this painting the viewer has the sense that the deity takes up all available space on the canvas, a visual metaphor for the perception that the entire world is divine. He embraces his female consort, who is in complete harmony with the mustached male god; the two appear to almost blend into each other. Both have a multitude of heads and arms, indicating their infinite vision and reach. Shiva bears the orbs of the sun and moon in his two main hands, as if the cosmos itself were in his grasp. The couple dances atop a dais supported by lesser Hindu gods and within an aureole of fire. They are surrounded by scenes of charnel grounds and other manifestations of the great god. At the bottom center the couple is shown in sexual embrace but their colors are reversed. -Rubin Museum of Art

Rato Macchendrath Temple. Nepal. 1850. 

This work depicts the temple of Rato Macchendranath in the ancient kingdom of Patan in the Kathmandu Valley. In the center of the composition sits the Red Lord, known as either Rato Macchendrath or Red Padmapani Avalokiteshvara. In the registers above are scenes from the life story of Buddha Shakyamuni, accompanied by images of Hindu gods receiving their teachings. The many patrons and devotees are arranged in rows across the bottom registers, each in a pose of worship.

Bhimaratha Jatra. Nepal. 1755.

Lotus emerging from a blue lake supporting the stupa with Ushnishvijaya at the center of the white dome beneath the eyes of the harmika and the golden umbrella wheels. The lake surrounded by a landscape of mountains and rivers, with shrines to Hindu deities guarded by Buddhist protectors, a multitude of cloud-borne Buddhist deities with the Five Transcendental Buddhas above, large Manjushri and Lokeshvara flanking the stupa, a donor beneath with a vajracharya performing the Bhimaratha ceremony, three episodes of the rite depicted, with Mahakala below surrounded by offerings and flanked by the donor family. 

Jalasayana Vishnu Mandala. Nepal. 1857.  

With Vishnu at the centre of a lotus mandala accompanied by devi, Garuda, and Ananta, surrounded by petals with twelve manifestations with shakti, all encircled by the coils of Ananta, with narrative and mythical scenes, Ganesha, Brahma, Shiva, Vishnu and Kartikeya above and scenes of ritual and portraits of donors below. Although Jalasayana Vishnu has iconic importance in Nepal, few painted mandalas of this subject survive. The blue reclining Vishnu depicted in worship in the lower registers of the painting probably represents the massive seventh century stone image at Budhanilkantha in the Kathmandu Valley.

Chakrasamvara Mandala. Thakuri early Malla Periods, Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. 1100.

This ritual diagram (mandala) is conceived as the cosmic palace of the wrathful Chakrasamvara and his consort, Vajravarahi, seen at center. These deities embody the esoteric knowledge of the Yoga Tantras. Six goddesses on stylized lotus petals surround the divine couple. Framing the mandala are the eight great burial grounds of India, each presided over by a deity beneath a tree. The cemeteries are appropriate places for meditation on Chakrasamvara and are emblematic of the various realms of existence. The lower register contains five forms of the goddess Tara, a tantric adept at left, and two donors at right. This mandala is one of the earliest surviving large-scale paintings known from Nepal. Stylistic features relate it to Nepalese manuscript covers and to eastern Indian palm-leaf manuscript illustrations of the twelfth century. 

Chandra (चन्द्र) God of the Moon (14th–15th century), Kathmandu Valley, Nepal.

Avalokiteshvara, Bodhisattva & Buddhist Deity. Shristhikantha Nepal. 1800s.

Mandala of Vasudhara, Buddhist Deity. Nepal. 1900s. 

(Uknown). Mandala of Chandra, God of the Moon. Nepal (Kathmandu Valley). 1400s.