The Buddhist deity Vajrabhairava

The large figure near the top of this painting is Vajrabhairava, the Lightning Terror. Below him, atop a buffalo with his consort at his side, is Yama Dharmaraja. Both are emanations of Manjushri, the bodhisattva of wisdom, which accounts for their similar forms. Around them are denizens of the cemetery grounds and, above, a lineage of lamas from the Sakya Monastery at Ngor. Following the Sakya convention, Vajrabhairava’s nine heads are stacked in three tiers of three. The contrasting Gelug mode—like the nearby sculpture—shows seven heads encircling the lowest tier, topped by the last two, one above the other.