Materials:

Gold-plated copper

Lapis lazuli

Turquoise

Coral

Conch shell

Pearls

Rubies

Dimensions & Weight:

Diameter: 12 inches

Weight: 1.6 kilograms

Shipping Origin: Kathmandu, Nepal

Description:

This extraordinary mandala has a central figure of Kalachakra, behind which is a double vajra. Surrounding Kalachakra are eight figures of Vajrayogini, fashioned from alternating carved pieces of lapis lazuli, coral, turquoise, and conch shell. Rimming the mandala is a row of vajras followed by a final row of individually carved pieces of lapis lazuli and insets of pearls and rubies.

Kalachakra is both the central deity representing time and that everything is the flow of time. It is also an allusion to the mandala itself, which represents the wheel of time.

Each aspect of Vajrayoginī's form and mandala is designed to convey a spiritual meaning. For example, her brilliant red-colored body symbolizes the blazing of her tummo or "inner fire". Her single face symbolizes that she has realized that all phenomena are of one nature in emptiness. Her two arms symbolize her realization of the two truths. Her three eyes symbolize her ability to see everything in the past, present and future. She looks upward toward the Pure Dākiṇī Land, demonstrating her attainment of outer and inner Pure Dākiṇī Land, and indicating that she leads her followers to these attainments. The curved driguk knife in her right hand shows her power to cut the continuum of the delusions and obstacles of her followers and of all living beings. Drinking the blood from the kapala in her left hand symbolizes her experience of the clear light of bliss.