Diverse Forms of Mahakala and other Protectors

This painting is dedicated to nine wrathful deities particularly important to the Gelug School of Tibetan Buddhism. At the top center the founder of this school, Tsongkhapa, is flanked by the Fourth Panchen Lama, Tenpa Nyima (1782–1853), and the Ninth Dalai Lama, Lungtok Gyatso (1805–1815). At the center of the painting is Six-armed Mahakala and underneath him Four-headed Mahakala. They are flanked by (clockwise from upper left) White Mahakala, Magzor Gyalmo, Yama Dharmaraja, and Mahakala in the form of a Brahman. Below are the worldly protectors Begtse and Sedrabcen and the wealth deity Tshangpa Karpo.