Mahakala is one of the most popular guardians in the Tibetan Buddhist pantheon, he is the enaged form of the gentle and empathetic Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, the deity for indefinite compassion.
Appearance and Myth[]
In Tibetan iconography, mahakala is usually black although he appears in other colours in many occasions. He has two to six arms, three bulging eyes with flames for eyebrows, and a beard of hooks, with six skulls crowning his head. This figure is the guardian of the tents of nomadic Tibetans, and of monasteries, and of the Tibetan Buddhism as a whole. Assuaging interferences, elevating life, virtue and wisdom, attracting people to Buddhism and abolishing confusion and ignorance are his chief responsibilities Mahakala was once demon who was unleashed upon the world and was tormenting even the gods with his greed and aggression, as the god Brahma had given him the boon that no outside enemy could defeat him. The Bodhisattvas Manjushri and Avalokiteshvara teamed up, transformed themselves into a horse and a pig, entered his mouth and anus, and then began to expand in size. When the demon, about to explode, begged to surrender, the Bodhisattvas chained him up and then began a process of converting him to gentleness and compassion. Eventually he became a protector of the Dharma, using his demonic strength to keep lesser evil spirits and calamities at bay. He is propitiated by most Tibetans in one of his many forms. He is considered to be the consort of Palden Lhamo, the patron protector goddess of Tibet.