TIBET, 14TH/15TH CENTURY

The Tibetan lettering on the chest, not found on Buddhist sculpture, indicates that this deity is from the Bon tradition. As in the present example, Kunzang Akor is generally represented with the Tibetan letter AH at his chest and hands folded in his lap. Often he holds the stems of two lotuses supporting a yungdrung (svastika) on the right and a vase on the left. Kunzang Akor is the meditational form of Shenlha Okar, one of the Four Transcendent Lords central to Bon tradition. For a closely related example, see S. Karmay and J. Watt, Bon: The Magic Word, 2007, p. 50, fig. 38.