Tibetan liturgical texts claim that there are as many as seventy-five forms of Mahakala (the Great Black One) and describe him as being the deep black color of the storm clouds that will darken the sky at the end of time. A six-armed form of Mahakala is represented here standing atop the prostrate figure of the elephant-headed god Ganesha. His principal arms hold his attributes: the chopper and the skull-cup. The top row depicts Indian mahasiddhas (perfected beings) and eminent monks of the Sakyapa lineage. The ten guardians of the directions, the eight-cardinal points, plus the zenith and nadir, are lined up vertically on either side of Mahakala’s flaming aura. At Ganesha’s feet rides Palden Lhamo on her fierce mule, while at his head is Takkiraja. In the lower left corner Jinamitra dances, and Traksad rides a black horse in the lower right. The Yaksha Kshetrapala rides a black bear directly below Mahakala. To the left is the monk who commissioned this painting, shown in the act of propitiating Ganesha. Kubera, the god of wealth, is to the right of the bear. Although this thangka was collected in the western Tibetan kingdom of Guge, the style of painting is so closely connected with that of the murals in the Kumban stupa at Gyantse, that it must have been made either at Gyantse or another location in the Tsang region of central Tibet.

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