Virūḍhaka, Guardian King of the South

The central figure is a wrathful, blue-skinned deity dressed in ornate, multi-layered golden and orange armor with flowing green scarves. He stands in a slight contrapposto, holding a long, straight sword upright in his right hand and a coiled serpent in his left. He is set against a background of stylized pink and white clouds, with a smaller blue figure crouched near his feet. The painting is framed by a thin gold-patterned border and mounted on a dark fabric backing decorated with floral motifs.

Virūḍhaka is the ruler of the south and the guardian of the Jambudvīpa continent in Buddhist cosmology, often depicted as the leader of the Kumbhāṇḍas. This iconography is central to Tibetan Buddhist temple protection rituals.