Among the highest classes of yoga tantras, the creation of mandalas (Tib. khilkor) is a central ritual element of tantric initiations (Skt. abhishekas). The importance of the tantric mandala lies in its being the essential sacred space within which a deity resides, along with the palace, surroundings, and retinue. This painting depicts the celestial mandala of the deity Vajrakilaya, who, like all wrathful manifestations, embodies the fiercely compassionate determination to transmute the negative emotions and intellectual obscurations that hinder realization of our true nature, which is already enlightened.