Nepal preserves mural of esoteric Buddhist god

Oct 13, 2022

Lalitpur (Nepal), Oct 13 (ANI): These artists have been spending months preparing the painting of the Buddhist tantric deity Chakrasamvara, the last wish of Nepal's famed historian and Yuga Purush, Satya Mohan Joshi. Six artists are meticulously painting a 22 by 5.5 feet Paubha of Chakrasamvara, a powerful deity of Buddhism immensely popular in Tibet and Mongolia along with Nepal. The artists are working from dawn to dusk to prepare a piece of art that is about to become extinct and would be representative of "Nepal's indigenous art traditions, practices, and methods". The mural that is being painted over canvases brought together gives an erotic feeling to those who are not familiar with the Buddhist deity. In the mural, Chkrasamvara—an esoteric deity—is embracing his yogini consort Vajravarahi, who is considered an esoteric deity by Vajrayana practitioners. In the mural that expands from one side of the canvas to the other covering one part of the wall facing against the window, in the centre lies a painting of Chakrasamvara. The artists have brought in other family members of the deity to make it more lively and informative. It is believed that the mural of the esoteric deity Chakrasamvara is understood only by those who have received Dekha (esoteric initiation) who can enter the chamber of the deity to worship it. The mural is expected to incur an expenditure of about 4.23 million Nepali rupees upon its completion. The project has so far collected 25 per cent of the estimated required budget.