Bhurkumkuta

Artist

Mongolian (Mongolian)

Date

19th century

Medium

Bronze, copper, pigments

Dimensions

Work : 8 3/8 x 6 5/8 x 2 3/8 in. (21.27 x 16.83 x 6.03 cm)

Credit Line

Hope College Collection, Gift of David Kamansky and Gerald Wheaton

Object Number

2021.21.7

Label

Bhurkumkuta is a meditational deity who is invoked primarily in Kriya Tantra rituals. He is thought to help heal illnesses and to rid the body and mind of defilements. As here, he is typically portrayed with one head, three faces, six arms and two legs. His faces are wrathful, and he wears skull crowns, bone jewelry and a tiger-skin loin cloth. Textual descriptions describe his skin as “smoky” in color, and indeed there are traces of a blue-gray pigment remaining on the surface of this sculpture. His hands are supposed to carry an assortment of tantric weapons and ritual implements, but those attributes are now missing from this sculpture.