This directional guardian figure - probably Virupaksa, the guardian of the West - is from the great 14-15th c monastery of Densatil in South Central Tibet, entirely destroyed by the upheavals of the 1960s. This figure, of which only this torso remains, has lost its gilding, and many of the stones have been burned, though a few remain. Like many Densatil sculptures, the image is a virtuoso work with extraordinary details. Note in particualr the writhing makara forms that form the god's shoulder plates.