BronzeTibet, 16th to 17th centuryDimensions: Height 10 cmWeight: 213 gramsThe six-armed Mahakala is considered a fierce emanation of Avalokiteshvara in Tibetan Buddhism, here standing in wide stance on Ganesha, here symbolizing hindrances or obstacles. Another interpretation explains the elephant-headed creature to signify our instinctive, primitive animal force and urge. He is holding various objects in his six arms, like a skull cup, a noose, a kartika, prayer beads, a trident. He is wearing a garland of skulls. His wild hair is decorated with a five-skull-crown. The face is looking gruesome with clenched teeth and fierce eyes. He is surrounded by an open-work aureole of flames with a crescent-shaped moon and diamond in the center.