The Arhat Kanakavatsa

Enlarge My gallery Comment Tag Share Download Image*
https://collections-images.lacma.org/remote_images/ma-55347-O3.jpg
View comments
No comments have been posted yet.
Add a comment
Please log in to add comments.
Enter your LACMA Collections username.
Enter the password that accompanies your username.
New to our collections website? Sign up to create an account and start saving your favorites. Please note that this account is not the same as the MyLACMA account you may have for ticketing and membership transactions.
Download powerpoint quality jpeg Download publication quality tiff
Current tags
This item has not been tagged yet.
Please log in to add tags.
Enter your LACMA Collections username.
Enter the password that accompanies your username.
New to our collections website? Sign up to create an account and start saving your favorites. Please note that this account is not the same as the MyLACMA account you may have for ticketing and membership transactions.
* Nearly 20,000 images of artworks the museum believes to be in the public domain are available to download on this site. Other images may be protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights. By using any of these images you agree to LACMA's Terms of Use.

The Arhat Kanakavatsa

Central or Eastern Tibet, late 15th century
Paintings
Mineral pigments and gold on cotton cloth
29 x 21 1/2 in. (73.7 x 54.6 cm)
From the Nasli and Alice Heeramaneck Collection, Museum Associates Purchase (M.83.105.19)
South and Southeast Asian Art
Not currently on public view

Curator Notes

...
In both Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism, the arhats are believed to have been the Buddha Shakyamuni’s original disciples, and to attained enlightenment through their own efforts. They were endowed with transcendent wisdom (prajna). Functioning much like saints, their role was to protect the Dharma, or Buddhist teaching, until the coming of Maitreya, the Buddha of the Future. Arhat Kanakavatsa (Golden Calf) is thought to have born in ancient Magadha in present-day Bihar. At the same time of his birth, an elephant auspiciously gave birth to a golden calf, a miraculous event that gave Kanakavatsa his name. He is said to reside on Saffron Hill in Kashmir with 500 other Arhats. His primary attribute is a long jeweled noose (pasha) given to him by the serpent demigods (nagas) that is symbolic of great memory and self-mastery. Kanakavatsa is nimbate, enthroned in front of an elaborate shrine, and wearing voluminous robes. He has blue eyes, regarded as in Chinese painting as characteristic of Kashmiri residents. He holds his jeweled noose in front of his chest with both hands. Beside his right foot is a figure in Mongolian garb who is likely the "barbarian" King of Kashmir who visited Kanakavatsa. Three goddesses and a black fierce god appear in aureoles (prabhavali) in the upper corners. Comparable Tibetan individual portraits of Kanakavatsa are in the Brooklyn Museum (1993.192.10) and Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art, New York (P1990.1.1 and F1996.33.3).
More...

Bibliography

  • Pal, Pratapaditya.  The Art of Tibet.  New York:  The Asia Society, Inc., 1969.
  • Beguin, Gilles. Dieux et Demons de l'Himalaya: Art du Bouddhisme Lamaique.  Paris: Grand Palais, 1977.
  • Pal, Pratapaditya.  Art of Tibet.  Los Angeles; Berkeley, CA:  Los Angeles County Museum of Art; University of California Press, 1983.
  • Pal, Pratapaditya.  The Art of Tibet.  New York:  The Asia Society, Inc., 1969.
  • Beguin, Gilles. Dieux et Demons de l'Himalaya: Art du Bouddhisme Lamaique.  Paris: Grand Palais, 1977.
  • Pal, Pratapaditya.  Art of Tibet.  Los Angeles; Berkeley, CA:  Los Angeles County Museum of Art; University of California Press, 1983.
  • Pal, Pratapaditya. Art of Tibet. Expanded edition. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1990.
More...