Palden Lhamo

Palden Lhamo

Palden Lhamo or Remati are all forms of Shri Devi a category of female Tantric Buddhist deity who appears in dozens of different forms. She usually appears as a wrathful deity with a primary role as a Dharmapala. She is specifically a Wisdom Protector, an enlightened being.

Palden Lhamo is one of three Dharmapalas of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism alongside Mahakala and Yamantaka. She is the wrathful deity considered to be the principal protectress of Bhutan.

Palden Lhamo appears in the retinue of the Obstacle-Removing Mahakala as an independent figure and has been described as “the tutelary deity of Tibet and its government”, and as “celebrated all over Tibet and Mongolia, and the potent protector of the Dalai and Panchen Lamas and Lhasa”.

She is the only female among the traditional “Eight Guardians of the Law” and is usually depicted as deep blue and with red hair to symbolize her wrathful nature, crossing a sea of blood riding side-saddle on a white mule. The mule has an eye on its left rump where her angry husband's arrow hit it after she killed her son (who was destined and being raised to be the one to finally put an end to Buddhism) and used his skin as a saddle blanket. She has three eyes and is often shown drinking blood from a human skull.