KALACHAKRA

KALACHAKRA
Kalachakra, whose name literally means ‘cycle of time,’ is a Buddha who commands the authority of an enlightened being and has the splendor of a monarch. He has a dark blue hue, three necks– blue, red and white– and four faces with three eyes each. The front face is black and fierce with bared fangs; the right one is red with a lustful expression; the back head is yellow and settled into absorbed concentration, and the left one is white and utterly peaceful.

His hair is bound in a topknot and adorned with a half-moon. His hands hold a vajra, a sword, a trident, a curved knife, a triple arrow, a vajra hook, a drum, a bell, a shield, a staff, a skull filled with blood, a bow, a noose, a jewel, a lotus, a conch, a mirror, an iron chain and the four-faced head of Brahma.

His red right leg is outstretched, trampling Kamadeva, deity of desire. Under his white left leg is Rudra the Forceful. Kalachakra embraces his consort Vishvamata, Mother of Diversity, who has a yellow body and four faces: yellow, white, blue and red, each of which has three eyes. She has four arms on each side, which hold a curved knife, an iron hook, a drum, a rosary, a skull, a white lotus, and a jewel. Their embrace represents the union of compassion and wisdom, in the accomplishment of supreme enlightenment.

SHAKTI:
Shakti Yab-yum is a common symbol in Nepalese and Tibetan art. It represents the primordial union of wisdom and compassion, depicted as a male deity in union with his female consort via the similar concept of interpenetration or “coalescence,” as illustrated by the concept of Indra’s net. The male figure represents compassion and dexterity, while the female figure represents insight. The female is seated on the male’s lap in yab-yum. A rare rendition of a similar figure, but reversed, with the male sitting on the female’s lap, is known as yum-yab.