Twenty-three Deity Nairatma Mandala
Unknown Artist
c. 1375
Medium
Gum tempera, ink, and gold on cloth
Dimensions
82.5 × 72.4 cm
Classification
Painting
Department
Indian and Southeast Asian Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
Accession Number
1993.4
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
One of the main types of imagery in tantric Buddhist art is the mandala, a two-dimensional diagram of the realm of an enlightened being. This mandala depicts the palace of Nairatma, who dances in the center surrounded by her entourage. Using the painting as a guide, the tantric practitioner in meditation mentally projects the two-dimensional plan into three-dimensional space and enters into it. The outermost ring contains depictions of the cremation grounds, where corpses are being burned and co...