An antique 19th Century tsakli painting in mineral pigments depicting the adornments of the mandala
environments of extremely wrathful deities, where 'slain enemies' of ignorance, desire and hatred are embodied
in the pile of flayed human, elephant and tiger skin. Wrathful deities usually wear these skins as garments, the
hands and feet knotted around their backs or waist, or in the case of the tiger skin - as a dhoti.
The use of a flayed human skin is specifically mentioned in many of the tantras, while wrathful deities are often
shown wearing the blood stained skin of a freshly killed elephant stretched across their backs, which is sometimes
referred to as 'Indra's skin'. The qualities of wrathful deities which are comparable to those of the wild elephant
are revealed in their symbolic activities of bellowing, crushing, tearing, trampling and uprooting.
A full tiger skin often formed the seat or asana of certain deities, yogins, siddhas, oracles and great teachers. This has
its origin in Hindu tradition, where Shiva killed the tiger of desire and used its skin as his meditation seat, symbolising
his transcendence over desire. The symbolism of the flayed elephant skin refers to the deity having 'torn the elephant of
ignorance asunder'.
In this tsakli, some of the other 'attires of the charnel grounds' are displayed; - a girdle of carved human bones hangs
between the animal and human skins; a circlet of hearts threaded onto intestines; a garland of severed heads threaded onto
an obliging poisonous snake; orbs of fat and cremation ash are scattered about. 10 x 12.9cm