Ushnisha Sitatapatra (goddess of the victorious white parasol)

Dateca. 18th century

MediumThangka: opaque watercolors and gold on cotton

Dimensions38 1/4 × 30 1/2 inches (97.2 × 77.5 cm)

CultureTibet

ClassificationsPaintings

Credit LineAcquired through the George and Mary Rockwell Fund

Terms

Paintings
Thangka
Opaque watercolor and gold
Arms
Arrows
Bodies of water
Clouds
Costume
Esoteric Buddhism
Eyes
Faces
Flames
Goddesses
Hands
Jewelry
Jewels
Lotus flowers
Mandorlas
Monks
Moon
Mountains
Parasols
Religion
Rivers
Sun
Wheels
Silk
Tibetan

Object number2002.178

Label CopyThe goddess Ushnishasitatapatra serves as an invincible guardian against all supernatural dangers. She represents the brilliant emanation of the ushnisha, the wisdom protuberance at the crown of the Buddha’s head, and is the personification of the white parasol (sitatapatra) that symbolizes the Buddha’s royalty and divinity. She manifests her great protective power with a thousand faces, a thousand arms, and a thousand legs. Stacked rows of heads in five colors form a towerlike structure and each peaceful, happy, or angry face has three eyes. The depiction of her all-seeing and all-knowing supremacy extends to the palm of each hand and sole of each foot, each of which also has its own eye. With two hands she holds a large parasol, while the other hands carry weapons and implements of power such as arrows, dharmachakra (wheel of the Buddhist law), and double vajra (thunderbolt scepter). Against a flaming aureole in a verdant landscape, she stands on all the demons and evildoers, which she keeps under firm control. The Qing dynasty emperors were great patrons and practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism. This painting bears close similarities in style to paintings produced for the Yonghegong, the palace in Beijing that emperor Qianlong (reigned 1736–95) converted into a monastery for Tibetan monks residing in the Chinese capital.

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