Palden Lhamo (Glorious Goddess), known in Sanskrit as Shri Devi, is a fierce Dharmapala (protector deities) in Vajrayana Buddhism and the supreme guardian of the Tibetan nation, the Dalai Lamas, and the Buddhist faith. She is committed to the defense of spiritual seekers from dangerous entities and negative forces threatening to obstruct their process on the path to enlightenment.
In this painting, the goddess is represented in her iconographic form as Magzor Gyalmo (Warrior Queen). She is depicted with an angry, glaring face, bulging eyes, bared teeth, and flaming hair. She wears a crown of skulls, and a long garland of severed skulls (mundamala) as well as the sun in her navel and the moon in her hair. In a sea of blood riding her donkey mount (khyang), she sits on a saddle blanket made from the flayed skin of her own child. Hanging from the front of her saddle is a pestilential sack of diseases tied with a snake, alluding to her ability to cure diseases inflicted by harmful spirits. In her upraised right hand, she holds a club with a thunderbolt (vajra) terminal. In her left hand, she carries a skullcup (kapala) filled with magical potions and the blood of evildoers. Magzor Gyalmo is flanked by her main attendants, reptile-headed Makaravaktra and lion-headed Simhavaktra. Above her are the four ferocious Queens of the Seasons (Dukyi Gyalmo). She is accompanied along the bottom of the painting by three female protective spirits. In the top center of the painting, a "Yellow Hat" Gelug lama identifies its sectarian affiliation.
