Mahakala
Six-armed aspect, the most usual form in the Geluk school where he is a principal Dharma protector. Mahakala is a standing dark-blue wrathful figure with one face and three eyes. He holds a curved knife and skullcup to his heart with his first two hands, and a skull rosary, damaru (double-sided drum), trident and lasso in his other hands. He is also adorned with snakes and wrathful ornaments of human bone. Under his feet he subdues the form of Ganesha, an elephant-headed Hindu deity. Like all other forms of Mahakala, this is a wrathful aspect of Avalokitesvara (the Bodhisattva of Compassion), specially invoked to overcome obstacles, particularly to one's spiritual practice.
A standing dark-blue Dharma protector with one face and three eyes. He embraces his consort while holding a curved knife and skullcup with his first two hands; his second right hand grasps a flaming sword of wisdom while his second left hand holds a trident. He is also adorned with snakes and wrathful ornaments of human bone as well as a cemetery scarf. His consort wields a curved knife (drigug) in her right hand and a skullcup filled with amrita nectar in her left. At the base of the thangka, three skullcups form a wrathful offering in the midst of a charnel-ground scene. Like all other forms of Mahakala, this figure is a wrathful aspect of Avalokitesvara (the Bodhisattva of Compassion), specially invoked to overcome obstacles, particularly to one's spiritual practice.