Mahakala

Mahakala

Mahakala (in Sanskrit) is a Dharmapala (“protector of dharma”) in Vajrayana Buddhism, and a deity in Chinese and Japanese Buddhism, particularly in the Vajrayana school.

He is known as Daheitian (大黑天) in Chinese and Daikokuten (大黒天) in Japanese.

Mahakala is generally depicted as black. Since all the colors get dissolved into black color, all the names and forms melt into the deity as well. This symbolizes the embracing and encompassing nature of the deity. The color black also represents the absolute or ultimate reality and the nature of Mahakala.

In Sanskrit, this principle is also known as “Nirguna”, which means beyond all quality and form.

It gets depicted in various forms with five skull crowns. This symbolizes the transmutation of five negative afflictions into the five wisdom. The depiction of the number of arms in the deity varies in various cultures among other details.