“Perpetual Roar: Early Simhamukha Imagery in Ladakh”

Tori Andrews (PhD Candidate, Harvard University) - “Perpetual Roar: Early Simhamukha Imagery in Ladakh”

With the body of human and the head of an animal, images of dakinis populate tantric Buddhist visual programs. In western Himalaya, they hold a multivalent role in Buddhist practice and understandings of earthly, astronomical, and cosmological environments. My paper will focus on the representations and development of the lion-faced dakini Simhamukha (Tib. Senge dong ma) in tantric Buddhism in Ladakh. The unexpected discovery of a fourteenth century painted thangka of Simhamukha in a stupa inspired my paper and line of inquiry into the relationships between dakinis, the environment, Buddhist ritual, and funerary practices. The paper will begin by examining the environmental and soteriological inflections evidenced in this thangka and will investigate her continued role in navigating physical and meta-physical environments in Ladakh in later Simhamukha imagery.

The recently discovered thangka of Simhamukha prominently portrays the dakini at the center of the composition as a stand-alone figure. Five diminutive attending bodhisattvas surround her, and a white naga—a mythical environmental water spirit with both human and serpentine features—sits at her side. Beneath her, four donors kneel each holding a lotus stalk in their hands clasped at heart center. The portrayal of her as the main deity contrasts with the frequent representation of dakinis as marginal figures in accompaniment of male consorts. Many scholars have noted the most salient role of dakinis in tantric Buddhism is as a consort for male deities and practitioners “at key junctures in [their] course of development.” The thangka contrasts with this understanding of dakinis as more than auxiliary figures. My paper will build from the thangka’s unique representation of the lion-faced dakini to consider the autonomy of dakinis and their contribution to Buddhist spaces in Ladakh.