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).
