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Lot Essay
Vasudhara's presence in Nepal arose from the impassioned worship of the goddess who promised both material wealth and spiritual prosperity. One of the principal deities that arose in tandem with the formation of Buddhist cults in Nepal, her Indic origins became ubiquitously personified within this fertile valley. Customary to Newar culture, dedicatory images of the goddess were presented to commemorate her annual celebration. Here, she is depicted in a mandala format, accompanied by an array of deities and retinue all contributing to the opulence her name, "stream of gems," imparts.
Several iconographic elements closely derive from a conflation of textual sources. Her visualization includes her depiction with golden complexion, six-arms, and all-encompassing boons of fertility, abundance, wealth, and wisdom signified by the water pot, sheaf of corn, triratna jewels, and Prajnaparamita sutra held in each of her hands. Adorned with jewels and a crown, she sits in the posture of royal ease. Vasudhara appears with two bodhisattva attendants at each of her sides - red Avalokiteshvara and green Vajrapani. Described textually, Vajrapani holds the title "chief of the yaksha army". His army of nature spirits connected to fecundity and treasure are depicted throughout with their female equivalents, visualized overturning sacks of cascading gold and jewels and carrying golden offerings. Underneath Avalokiteshvara along the horizontal plinth is a form of Jambhala, the Lord of Wealth, and on the opposite side in white is Varuna, king of the nagas, the ruler of serpent beings who protects the treasures of the underworld. All of this iconography parallels an early, but more spacious arrangement of a Vasudhara mandala (Kreijger, Kathmandu Valley Painting, The Jucker Collection, 1999, p. 32, no. 3).
Early Nepalese mandalas employ two basic formats; one with a hierarchical rectangular configuration, seen here, and a second more conventional mandala with a circle placed within an outer square. The Jucker example mentioned above and another dated to 1403 (P. Pal, Art of the Himalayas, 1991, p. 72, cat. 34), share this vertical arrangement. All three depict the central figure in a similar manner - with a tall five-lobed crown, a rightward sway of the body and a multi-textured striped dhoti with red arching sash. Each show the lion-throne set in an encased niche, decorated with floating gems set against a red ground, and bearing golden scrolling motifs with a finial kirtimukha torana. Two lotus and foliate columns flank the throne of this and the Pal example. The top and bottom registers of all three illustrate parallel formats with seven buddhas stretched across the upper register and a bottom register showing a donor scene with a priest performing religious rites accompanied by dancers and musicians.
Several iconographic elements closely derive from a conflation of textual sources. Her visualization includes her depiction with golden complexion, six-arms, and all-encompassing boons of fertility, abundance, wealth, and wisdom signified by the water pot, sheaf of corn, triratna jewels, and Prajnaparamita sutra held in each of her hands. Adorned with jewels and a crown, she sits in the posture of royal ease. Vasudhara appears with two bodhisattva attendants at each of her sides - red Avalokiteshvara and green Vajrapani. Described textually, Vajrapani holds the title "chief of the yaksha army". His army of nature spirits connected to fecundity and treasure are depicted throughout with their female equivalents, visualized overturning sacks of cascading gold and jewels and carrying golden offerings. Underneath Avalokiteshvara along the horizontal plinth is a form of Jambhala, the Lord of Wealth, and on the opposite side in white is Varuna, king of the nagas, the ruler of serpent beings who protects the treasures of the underworld. All of this iconography parallels an early, but more spacious arrangement of a Vasudhara mandala (Kreijger, Kathmandu Valley Painting, The Jucker Collection, 1999, p. 32, no. 3).
Early Nepalese mandalas employ two basic formats; one with a hierarchical rectangular configuration, seen here, and a second more conventional mandala with a circle placed within an outer square. The Jucker example mentioned above and another dated to 1403 (P. Pal, Art of the Himalayas, 1991, p. 72, cat. 34), share this vertical arrangement. All three depict the central figure in a similar manner - with a tall five-lobed crown, a rightward sway of the body and a multi-textured striped dhoti with red arching sash. Each show the lion-throne set in an encased niche, decorated with floating gems set against a red ground, and bearing golden scrolling motifs with a finial kirtimukha torana. Two lotus and foliate columns flank the throne of this and the Pal example. The top and bottom registers of all three illustrate parallel formats with seven buddhas stretched across the upper register and a bottom register showing a donor scene with a priest performing religious rites accompanied by dancers and musicians.