Tārodbhava Kurukullā, Gyantse Kumbum, 15th century CE
The red-hued goddess Kurukullā, now principally known as a female Buddha in the northern Buddhist tradition, represents the power of subjugation. A pre-Buddhist Indic deity who was in medieval times integrated into the Buddhist meditational pantheon, Kurukullā was perhaps native to Gujarat since a Nepalese manuscript of the Aṣṭasāhasrikāprajñāpāramitā Sūtra dated to 1015 CE (Cam. MS Add.1643) identifies her mountain abode as being situated in Lāṭadeśa (modern southern Gujarat). Kurukullā’s mountain abode is referred to elsewhere in Buddhist literature but with no locational details (e.g. Uḍḍiyāna-vinirgata-kurukullāsādhana, Sādhanamālā)
Kurukullā originated as an apotropaic folk goddess of the pan-Indian type. She is propitiated for her protection against snakebites and poisons (e.g. the Saivite Māhuka, Haramekhalā I, 9th century) and is especially associated with the powers of bewitching men and women (Śaktisaṃgamatantra 3.14; Tantrarājatantra 22; Kurukullākalapa). While her powers were appropriated for the service of Buddhist soteriology, namely to subdue violent passions and conquer knowledge, she retains many of her pre-Buddhist traits. The repetition of her mantras is said to endow one with the mundane powers of enchantment (vaśīkaraṇa). Her strong association with love magic is borne out, for instance, by a medieval Tibetan narrative on her manifestation as a miracle-working sorceress (summarised in Shaw 2006: 433):
“The story opens with the dilemma of a senior queen who had lost the affections of her husband. The king had ceased to visit her quarters in the palace, so the lovelorn queen sent her maidservant into the marketplace in search of a magical elixir to reawaken his ardour. In the market, a woman with a reddish cast to her skin gave the servant some food over which spells had been pronounced and instructed that it should be given to the person whose attentions were sought. The queen decided that the lowly repast would not suitable for the king and disposed of it in a nearby lake. A serpent king ingested it and became enamoured of the queen. Drawn to her bed by the power of the spell, they enjoyed union and she became pregnant.
The ruler intended to punish his wife, knowing that the child could not be his. When the queen explained what had transpired, however, the king instead sent for the woman from the bazaar. When the red sorceress was brought into his presence, the king immediately recognised her to be an extraordinary personage. He bowed before her and requested her blessings. She taught him the mantra of Kurukullā, by which the king attained supernatural powers and earned the Dharma name Sahajavajra.”
– Chos-dbang blo-’gros, sGrub thabs nor bu’i phreng ba’i lo rgyus fol. 22b-23a; rJe btsun ku ru kulle’i sgrub thabs fol. 539.2-540.2.
The appearance of the serpent-king in this narrative reinforces Kurukullā’s association with snakes. She retains her role as protector against snakebites and poison even in Buddhist traditions. In one of her forms as Śukla-Kurukullā (White Kurukullā), she bears eight famous serpents as her ornaments: the blue-hued Ananta adorns her coiffure, milk-coloured Vāsukī forms a necklace, red Takṣaka makes one of her earrings, green Karkoṭaka forms her sacred thread, white Padma her girdle, green Mahāpadma her anklet, yellow Śaṅkhapāla her bracelet and dusky Kulika her armlet (Śuklakurukullāsādhanaṁ, Sādhanamālā).
The iconography of Kurukullā is otherwise varied and she appears in both wrathful and benign forms. Her red complexion symbolises passion, as does her stringing of a flowery arrow to a bow and the possession of red lotuses. She is most typically found in a four-armed form dancing in ardhaparyaṅka atop a corpse but she is also found in two, six or eight-armed forms with various terrifying attributes like garlands of skulls, protruding teeth, tiger-skin garments and a crown of skulls.
While Kurukullā’s name bears no traceable meaning in Sanskrit (most likely since it was a non-Indo-Aryan loanword), in Tibetan she is called Rigjayma or the ‘Lady of Knowledge/ Magic’ reflecting her bivalent character as endower of mundane enchantments and aid in the path towards liberation. In 1682, Ngawang Lobzang Gyatso, the 5th Dalai Lama, was said to have passed away contemplating the mantra of Kurukullā, auguring his future conquest of enlightenment:
Oṃ kurukulle hūṃ hrīḥ svāhā
Further Reading
Donaldson, T. E. (2001). Iconography of the Buddhist Sculpture of Orissa: Text (Vol. 1). Abhinav Publications.
Shaw, M. E. (2006). Buddhist Goddesses of India. Princeton University Press.
Slouber, M. (2016). Snakebite goddesses in Śākta traditions: Roots and Incorporations of Tvaritā, Kurukullā and Bheruṇḍā In B.W. Olesen (ed.) Goddess Traditions in Tantric Hinduism: History, Practice and Doctrine. Routledge, 74-95.
Jambudvīpa 