Professor Emeritus Rob Linrothe will deliver a guest lecture at the University of Leipzig titled, "Atisha's Acala & Three Types of Elephant-Headed Deities in Ladakh and Zangskar."
July 8, 2025
Professor Emeritus Rob Linrothe will speak at the University of Leipzig. The abstract for the lecture can be found below, and more information can be found at the link here.
A special form of the wrathful Buddhist deity Acala who destroys inner and outer obstacles in Vajrayāna meditations is featured in texts transmitted from maritime Southeast Asia to Tibet and the western Himalaya in the eleventh century. The Sanskrit texts were translated into Tibetan and are preserved today. The distinctive Acala is recognized by the elephant-headed demon that he pacifies underfoot and converts, and by up to ten small wrathful emanations that apear in Acala's flaming backdrop. The courier and champion of this distinctive form is the prominent eastern Indian teacher Dīpaṃkara Śrījñāna Atiśa (982–1055?), who first travelled to the ‘Golden Isles’ in Kedah, Southeast Asia, in order to study under Suvarnadvīpa Dharmakīrti before accepting an invitation to go to West Tibet. Examples of ‘Suvarṇadvipa Acala’, named after the Southeast Asian teacher’s locale and title, have been identified in Tibetan and Tangut Xia contexts, but not yet in the western Himalaya. The talk offers visual evidence for the legacy of Atiśa, including Suvarṇadvīpa Acala, preserved in Ladakh and Zangskar in paintings and sculptures. Relevant images are presented from Alchi Sumtsek and Lhakhang Soma, the shrine at Sumda Chung village, and a small shrine in Langmi village near Karsha in Zangskar. In the process of examining these images, the paper argues that not all elephant-headed deities in Tantristic Buddhist art are the Hindu god Gaṇeśa as is assumed by many contemporary viewers. In fact, three forms can and should be clearly distinguished from each other based on context in order to avoid misconceptions.
Suvarṇadvipa Acala with one ‘fury’, trampling Vināyaka; clay sealing plaque, 9.5 x 8 cm., West Tibet, preserved in the Langmi Village Chuchikzhal Shrine, Zangskar. Photo by R. Linrothe, 2024.
Four-armed white Gaṇeśa depicted in the outer realm of a maṇḍala, mural in the Sumda Chung, Ladakh, late 12th c. Photo by R. Linrothe, 2009.