A thangka depicting Mahakala Simhamukha, Tibet, 17th - 18th century | 十七至十八世紀 藏傳獅面大黑天唐卡 設色布本

The finely painted black ground thangka (Tib. nagthang) depicts the lion faced aspect of Mahakala holding a lance and a kapala bearing three torma offerings. He wears a black silk cloak and a quiver, and rides a black horse accompanied by his consort on a red horse. His entourage of eight protector deities ride at each side, with the five Long-Life Sisters below and aspects of Padmasambhava above. Compare an example in the musée Guimet, in Gilles Béguin, Art ésotérique de l’Himâlaya: La donation Lionel Fournier, Paris, 1990, cat. 83, where Béguin cites the iconography of the deity discussed in detail by R. de Nebesky-Wojkowitz. Compare also two examples in Nathalie Bazin, Rituels tibétains: Visions secrètes du Ve Dalaï Lama, Paris, 2002, cats. 55, 56. Robert Beer further identifies the lion faced deity as Maranatha, the Lord of the maras, or destructive demons, see https://www.tibetanart.com/Product.asp?PID=324&MATCH=1.