THANGKA DIPINTO SU SETA DI HERUKA, Tibet - Nepal, 20th century

The painting, without its silk frame, depicts Heruka.

The deity in the painting is depicted in embrace with her paredra, symbolising the union of yab and yum, the male and female principle or compassion and wisdom. The head of the deity is adorned with a crown of five skulls, while the lower part of the body is covered with a tiger skin. The consort, with a single face and two hands, also blue-black, holds a skull cup in her left hand and like her counterpart is adorned with leopard skin.

Notes: In the Nyingma tradition the term Heruka (blood drinker) refers to any meditative male deity with an irate appearance. A Heruka typically has three faces, six arms, eight legs, a consort and a pair of wings. The most common individual forms found in art are Hayagriva, Chemchog Heruka, Vajrakila , with whom perhaps the ject of the painting can be identified, and others.