Navosnisa Mandala

This thangka depicts the Navoṣṇīṣa (Nine-Uṣṇīṣa) Maṇḍala of the Sarvadurgatipari­śodhana-tantra in the centre with lamas along the top and the eight auspicious symbols along the bottom. The Navoṣṇīṣa Maṇḍala is the basic maṇḍala of the later of the two Tibetan translations of the Sarvadurgatipariśodhana-tantra. In Tibet there have survived many exemplars of the Sarvavid-Vairocana Maṇḍala, the basic maṇḍala of the earlier Tibetan translation of the Sarvadurgatipariśodhana-tantra, and although an example of the Śākyamuni Maṇḍala of the Mystery of the Body, the equivalent of the Navoṣṇīṣa Maṇḍala in the earlier translation, this is the first example of the Navoṣṇīṣa Maṇḍala.
A distinctive feature of this maṇḍala is that, instead of being oriented radially, the deities are all depicted with their feet facing towards the bottom of the canvas. This is similar to Chinese and Japanese maṇḍalas mounted on hanging scrolls, and in Tibet it is seen only in early works of the fourteenth century and earlier. Further, in between the central circle in which the main deity Śākyamuni is depicted and the eight-spoked wheel on which the eight uṣṇīṣas are arrayed there is an eight-petalled lotus, on the petals of which are depicted symbols(samaya) of the deities, and this too is a feature seen only in early works such as those in the Vairocana Chapel at Alchi Monastery in Ladakh, Dung-dkar Cave No.3, and Yulin Cave No.3 in Guazhou(Anxi). Therefore, the present work can be no later than the fourteenth century, and among the many maṇḍalas in the Hwajeong Museum’s collection it may very well be the oldest. It is iconographically accurate and possesses considerable value as a source of iconographical material.