Dukkar

Dukkar aka Sitatapatra aka White Parasol

The awe-inspiring Dukkar is an extremely efficacious female deity. According to scriptural sources, her all-powerful form emerged from the Ushnisha or sacred crown protuberance of Buddha Shakyamuni, while he was in deep meditative absorption amidst the assembly of the gods in the Heaven of the Thirty-Three. Hence, Buddha Shakyamuni is depicted above Dukkar in this Thangka. Her supreme practice was popular in ancient India and has managed to retain its popularity to this day because it is extremely potent in averting obstacles for Buddhist practitioners.

Dukkar is invoked to protect practitioners from a wide range of problems and calamities ranging from attacks from malevolent spirits to unjustified legal suits. Her mantra is also said to repel negative interferences and purify negative defilements. Furthermore, her long mantra, or Dharani is traditionally worn in an amulet for protection, even in extremely dangerous circumstances, and it also has the power to alter adverse weather conditions. The protective blessings of Dukkar are invoked in several rituals such as her Torma offering, fire Puja, the creation of a protective circle, drawings of her Mandalas,2.5. Dukkar and her Dharanis, which are often inserted into Stupas and statues as highly sacred items.

The most commonly depicted form of Dukkar has 1,000 heads, 1,000 arms, 1,000 legs, and thousands of eyes that oversee sentient beings. With her two central hands, she holds a Dharma wheel and a white parasol from which she takes her name. In her other hands, she holds a multitude of various weapons. Her skin is radiant white and her body is adorned with the various accouterments of a Bodhisattva.