Tsiu Marpo

Tsiu Marpo is a guardian of the Buddhist religion. Texts relate that he resides in the west in a red copper castle surrounded by red mountains, red valleys, and red rivers—a landscape evoked by the formations at the base of the sculpture. Dressed as a warrior, he brandishes a lance in his raised hand and holds a heart, which he tore from an enemy of the Buddhist religion, and a snare, which he uses as a weapon. His retinue is said to include nine naked men as messengers, one of which can be seen here, as well as a "life-destroying" copper wolf, who creeps along stealthily. Birds of prey, such as the one at the top of this sculpture, are also frequently in the retinue of guardian deities.