TIBET, PALA STYLE, 13TH CENTURY

The sow (varahi) head projecting from the present figure’s proper-right temple identifies this dakini as the wrathful Vajravarahi manifestation of Vajrayogini. Dakinis are goddesses who dance in the sky and symbolize wisdom; the sow’s head represents delusion that must be conquered during tantric practices. Vajravarahi is the consort of Chakrasamvara with whom she is often depicted in a passionate sexual embrace, but she is also an important deity in her own right, as can be gleaned from the presented large example. Here, the adamantine goddess commands a fierce scowl, with sharp fangs bulging from the corners of her mouth. She lifts a kartika in her right hand and extends a kapala in her left. She dons a skull tiara, a necklace of pendant jewels and a heavy garland of severed heads, who’s plaited hair weaves into the thick rope draped across her bodice. Contrary to her savage expression, she is dancing in bliss, weightlessly balancing on her left leg. The dichotomy exemplifies both the passion and compassion Vajravarahi embodies.
The intensity of Indian Tantrism inspired many Tibetans from the eleventh century onward, who were likewise taken with the Pala bronzes cast in northeast India during the same period. This thirteenth century Tibetan bronze undoubtably draws inspiration from the Pala style. Compare the posture and details such as the style of the severed heads hung on twisted rope with a twelfth century Pala bronze Vajradaka published by U. von Schroeder in Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet,Hong Kong, 2001, p. 295, fig. 98E.