Ṣaḍbhuja Mahākāla, the six-armed ‘Great Black One’ is the principal protector deity of the Gelug school. Amidst blazing fire, he tramples in a warrior stance upon Ganapati, a white elephant, lying beneath on the lotus base. His hair standing on end is adorned with skulls and his body with bone ornaments, a garland of human heads and a snake. A tiger skin is wrapped around his waist. His three bulging eyes and the wide open mouth with fangs stress his wrathful appearance as do the implements he is carrying in his six hands. The uppermost two hold a flayed elephant skin, and prayer-beads made up of skulls and a trident. The second pair hold a ḍamaru drum and a noose, while the primary hands hold a chopper and a blood-filled skull in front of the chest. In the upper left corner appears Buddha Śākyamuni and in the upper right Mahāsiddha Śavari, the hunter who had a vision of the wrathful protector.