Offerings to the Goddess Palden Lhamo

Offerings to the Goddess Palden Lhamo

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Palden Lhamo is the principal protectress of Tibet and the only female of the Eight Guardians of the dharma. This black-ground (Tibetan: nag thang) painting was installed in the chapel (gonkhang) dedicated to the wrathful protective deities (dharmapalas), a room reserved for tantric initiation rites within a Tibetan monastery. The exceptional scale and complexity of the composition relate the painting to the offering-scene murals known as “sets of ornaments” (rgyan tshogs) that adorn the interiors of shrines dedicated to the dharmapalas. At center, the wrathful four-armed goddess Palden Lhamo, emaciated and fearful, is shown riding her mule.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Offerings to the Goddess Palden LhamoOfferings to the Goddess Palden LhamoOfferings to the Goddess Palden LhamoOfferings to the Goddess Palden LhamoOfferings to the Goddess Palden Lhamo

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.