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painted in cold gold and parcel gilded in gold and copper, finely incised in floral
motif, seated in lalitasana on a lotus, his pendent right foot supported on a
conch atop a lotus bud (a symbol of prosperous voyage), right hand holding another
conch shell, and his left holds a Nakula Mongoose which dispensing gold pieces.
The commanding presence of this statue of Kubera befits his role as the emanation
of Vaisravana Dharmarpala, the Lord of Wealth and Guardian Deity of the North.
He is the most important deity among the eight generals of Vaisravana. The statue
is sealed with a copper base engraved with a double vajra, an indication of a
ritual blessing known as "rab gnas", a consecrated process which a high ranking
Lama invites the deity to enter into the completed image, and the statue is believed
to contain the actual presence of the deity, the dharmakaya, or Truth Body of
the Buddha.
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