6-Arm Mahakala Thangka

Mahakala, the Great Black One, is such a wrathful deity. Mahakala embodies enlightened rage as well the divine protection that we need from our own minds. He is an emanation of the great Avalokiteshvara. Mahakala has a rather ferocious appearance, given his status as the supreme Dharmapala. His eyes are burning with rage while his hair is upright and ablaze. He takes on an intimidating stance and the overall aura of the deity is quite formidable. But despite his terrifying appearance, he is a manifestation of the embodiment of universal compassion, Avalokiteshvara.The common belief is that when the realization struck Avalokiteshvara that in this age of darkness, his peaceful ways would not be enough to subjugate the degenerate beings and protect them from going astray, he decided that a wrathful form would be more appropriate to accomplish his ever so compassionate goals. Hence, he emanated the dark blue syllable HUM and transformed into the divinely wrathful Mahakala. Avalokiteshvara’