Queen of the World, Sipai Gyelmo

OriginChina

Date20th century

Dimensions24 1/4 × 19 1/4 in.

MediumEmbroidery

Classification(s)

textiles

Credit LineRubin Museum of Art

Object numberC2003.51.2

Himalayan Art Resources Number65269

Project Himalayan Arthttps://rubinmuseum.org/projecthimalayanart/essays/thread-crosses/

DescriptionIn the Bon religion the Queen of the World is the most wrathful manifestation of the peaceful deity Loving Mother of Wisdom. Fierce in appearance, black in color, she has three faces and six arms, which hold weapons and implements of power and control. Her three right hands hold a victory banner, a flaming sword, and a peg. Her left hands hold a trident, a swastika wand, and a skullcup filled with blood.
Each of these symbolically represents cutting the knots of illusion and rooting out the three poisons of greed, anger, and delusion. Riding on a red mule, she sits atop a flayed human skin symbolizing impermanence, while the flames of wisdom burn around her.

The Queen of the World is both a meditational deity and a protector. She is one of the most frequently propitiated figures in the Bon religion and extends her protection to religious practitioners as well as common people. Though horrific and wrathful in form, she embodies the qualities of wisdom and compassion.

Embroidered works of art such as this were commonly commissioned by Tibetans, although they were made in China.

Not on view