The Buddhist guardian Six-Armed Mahakala

Mahakala assumes dozens of different forms, but one of the most recognizable — and similar to the guardians within the mandala’s palace —is Six-Armed Mahakala. Intensely frightening, he is shown with gnashing fangs, a glowering visage, a crown of skulls, and a snake-infested conflagration of hair. In his two primary hands, he pulverizes our egos in a skull cup with his curved-blade flaying knife. An inscription on the back of the sculpture provides details of its commission during the reign of China’s Daoguang emperor.