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Chakrasamvara and Vajravarahi with Their Retinue (Primary Title)
paubha (Nepalese religious painting) (Object Name)

Unknown (Artist)

late 14th–early 15th century
Nepalese
Paintings
opaque watercolor on cloth
South Asian Art
Image: 37 1/8 × 28 7/8 in. (94.3 × 73.34 cm)
Framed: 60 × 39 in. (152.4 × 99.06 cm)
91.550
G327 - South Asian Galleries

This early Nepalese painting shows the union of the blue-skinned deity Chakrasamvara with his red-skinned consort Vajravarahi. Chakrasamvara represents the everyday world and perfected compassion and Vajravarahi, the spiritual world and transcendental wisdom. The couple’s passionate embrace symbolizes the ultimate goals of the Himalayan Buddhist practitioner: the reconciliation of the transitory and the absolute and the blissful integration of compassion and wisdom. A product of this union—the flame of sublime insight—surrounds the two figures, destroying all malevolent influences and obstacles to enlightenment.

Berthe and John Ford Collection, Adolph D. and Wilkins C. Williams Fund
Image released via Creative Commons CC-BY-NC

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