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Mountain God Kula Kari
OriginTibet
Date19th century
Dimensions9 7/8 × 8 1/4 × 4 5/8 in.
MediumPainted terracotta
Classification(s)
Credit LineRubin Museum of Art
Object numberC2002.7.3
Himalayan Art Resources Number65079
DescriptionA local protector god, Kula Kari occupies a mountain in Lhodrak, south of the Tibetan capital of Lhasa and near the border with Bhutan. Kula Kari is a god in Tibet’s indigenous Bon religion who was later absorbed into the Buddhist pantheon, and he is still revered in both traditions. He belongs to a group of local divinities and spirits that were subjugated by Buddhist teachers and bound to serve as protectors of the region’s new faith. Here he is dressed as a Tibetan warrior riding a shaggy yak (above left). Yaks, native to the Himalayas and adjoining regions of Inner Asia, rarely find such prominence in Tibetan Buddhist art except for in the context of local protector gods. Additional tiny animals roam near the base of the mountain abode, here symbolize by a three-story temple with Chinesestyle eaves that frames the god. Note the sculpture’s clever use of teardrop-shaped mountain forms to create a landscape setting.19th century
18th century
ca. 18th century
Dated by inscription 1842
19th century
18th century
first half of the 15th century
10th century
19th century
19th century