Dancing Red Ganapati of the Three Red Deities

At the center of this work is the twelve-armed, red, dancing Ganapati, a form of the elephant-headed god known only in Buddhism. Immediately above him, the “spirit subduer” Bhutadamara tramples a white elephant-headed deity. In visualization practice religious devotees imagine themselves as Bhutadamara, and subsequently Ganapati in front of him, in a mountain cave of blue vaidurya rock. The two teachers in the corners wear the rounded hats typical of the Sakya School of Tibetan Buddhism but cannot be individually identified.