Tsalki Paintings
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A Tsakli Painting (Initiation Image) Depicting A Female Skygoer - Dakini
- Tibet
- Circa 14th Century
- Ink and mineral pigment on prepared cloth
- Dimensions: 4 7/8" x 5 5/8" (12.5 x 15 cm)
The tsakli, which has the remains of the original ribbon from which it was suspended depicts, within an aureole, a 'sky-clad' (naked) dakini or skygoer dancing on one foot, surrounded by swirling celestial scarves. She carries a krrtikha (flayer) in one hand, and a skull cup in the other. her hair is tied in a high chignon, studded with bone ornaments, bone earrings depend from her ears while bone ornaments drape over her voluptuous breasts. A line of Tibetan text to the lower edge of the tsakli and a vertical line of blessings to the reverse.
Tsakli
The subjects found on tsakli are similar to the better known larger Tibetan scroll paintings (Thangkas): Mainly deities or ritual objects and offerings associated with these deities are represented on the tsaklis. Occasionally, Tibetan inscriptions on the backside can identify the subjects which are painted on the front.The tsakli which are normally painted in sets which can comprise from 6 to almost 100 small paintings of similar subjects are used as offerings in temples or in rituals. For example, before a temple building is started, the area can be marked with tsakli representing protective deities. In this case they are being mounted on small wooden sticks. Similarly tsakli can be used by a buddhist lama to remove evil influences from a sick person, from a tree which does not bear fruit or a stack of grain which is going to be thrashed. A tsakli can also be placed in a portable shrine or box (Tibetan “gau”) and carried as a device giving protection to the traveller or pilgrim who carries this box around the neck or on a shoulder strap.
Dharma Protector
In Vajrayana iconography or thangka depictions, dharmapālas are fearsome beings, often with many heads, many hands, or many feet. Dharmapālas often have blue, black or red skin, and a fierce expression with protruding fangs. Though dharmapālas have a terrifying appearance and countenance, they are all boddhisattvhas or buddhas, meaning that they are embodiments of compassion that act in a wrathful way for the benefit of sentient beings.
The main functions of a dharmapāla are said to be to avert the inner and outer obstacles that prevent spiritual practitioners from attaining spiritual realizations, as well as to foster the necessary conditions for their practice. A Dharma Protector (Dharmapala) is an emanation of a Buddha or a Bodhisattva whose main functions are to avert the inner and outer obstacles that prevent practitioners from gaining spiritual realizations, and to arrange all the necessary contitions for their practice. In Tibet every monastery had its own Dharma Protector, but the tradition did not begin in Tibet; the Mahayanists of ancient India also relied upon Dharma Protectors to eliminate hindrances and to fulfil their spiritual wishes.