The Great Eight Charnel Ground of Vajrayana: Symbolism, Mandalas, and Meaning

Introduction to the Great Eight Charnel Grounds

In Vajrayāna Buddhism, the Great Eight Charnel Grounds (Skt. aṣṭa-śmaśāna) are liminal arenas that surround the outer mandala of numerous wrathful deities. The texts depict them as places where death is raw and ever-present—scattered with corpses, skeletons, scavenging animals, and spirit beings, and where yogins and ḍākinīs meet for violent, transforming practice. In art, these graves often surround the primary deity's palace as a reminder that ultimate enlightenment is achieved by directly confronting impermanence, rather than avoiding it. Different tantric cycles number and name them differently, but their purpose remains consistent: to frame the mandala with vivid symbols of mortality, dread, and non-attachment.

Origin and Historical Significance

Indian Buddhist and Hindu tantric literature contains descriptions of the eight cemeteries, with the most "abhorrent" settings deliberately selected as the platform for wrathful practice. According to key sources, these grounds surround the central palace and deity, with names and qualities varying by tantra (e.g., "Gruesome," "Frightful with Skulls," "Blazing Garland," "Dense Jungle," or "Resounding with the cries kili kili"). Commentarial literature elaborates on the inhabitants and omens of these grounds, including headless and hanging corpses, jackals, crows, owls, zombies uttering "phaim," as well as siddhas, yakṣas, rākṣasas, and ḍākinīs, emphasizing the charnel ground's role as a total theater of impermanence and transformation.

Charnel grounds are not just metaphorical; they also refer to real areas in India, such as the "Laughing" charnel ground in Bodhgayā, the neighboring Cool Grove, and the "Frightening" ground in the Black Hills of Bihar. In paintings, the cemeteries (eight or sixteen in certain systems, such as Kālacakra) appear directly surrounding the heavenly palace or as the mandala's outer ring, graphically conveying that the path to enlightenment encompasses and transforms death, fear, and decay. These images became canonical in Himalayan art and ritual manuals, shaping how generations of practitioners viewed and ritualized the barrier between samsara and liberation.

Chakrasamvara Cycle- Eight Charnel Grounds (with meanings)

Common Nyingma Set- Eight Charnel Grounds (often for peaceful mandalas)

• East - Cool Grove (Śītavana) 
  Cooling karuṇā (compassion) amid decay; often shown with lakes, shade trees, and gentle winds that soothe the heat of aversion.

• South - Perfected in Body
  The body itself becomes the sutra of impermanence; contemplation of birth, vigor, decline, and death as a complete cycle.

• West - Lotus Heap
  Lotus arises unstained from mud: realization blooming from the very conditions of saṃsāra; purity in the midst of impurity.

• North -Lanka Heap
  The “other-shore” ground of courage; crossing fear and strangeness as training for nonduality.

• South East - Spontaneously Accomplished Heap 
  Lhun grub (effortless accomplishment): when the view is correct, beneficial action unfolds naturally without contrivance.

• South West - Play of the Great Secret
  The secret is nonduality: appearances and emptiness “play” as one taste; horror and beauty are not-two.

• North West - Pervasive Great Happiness
  Bliss that pervades when clinging collapses; not hedonic pleasure, but the well-being of awareness knowing itself.

• North East - World Heap
  Total inclusion: nothing is excluded from the path; every experience is workable ground for realization.

Iconography: Even in peaceful mandalas, artists drop cemetery cues (stupas, trees, fires, birds/animals, yogins/ḍākinīs) to signal these grounds subtly around the palace.

Sixteen Charnel Grounds in the Kālacakra System

Why sixteen? Kālacakra’s broader cosmology (directions, elements, subtle-body correlations) doubles the cemetery band from eight to sixteen, refining the mandala’s protective/transformative perimeter.

How they’re shown:

Mahāsamvara Kālacakra: almost always surrounded by sixteen cemetery panels (tight ring or outermost band).

634-deity Kālacakra: only slightly wrathful, so it’s often shown without a cemetery ring.

Reading the painting: Count the grave-panels (often seen 4 cardinals + 4 diagonals + 8 intercardinals), micro-scenes (cremation fires, stupas, guardian figures, animals, spirit hosts), and note whether the cemetery ring hugs the palace or forms the outermost circle.

Eight Direction Gods of the Cemeteries (Anuttarayoga framing)

East — Śakra (Indra), on an elephant
Element/quality: command, spacious authority
Symbolism: opens the eastern gate with steady strength; establishes clarity and confidence to enter the field.

South — Yama, on a buffalo
Element/quality: time, death, inevitability
Symbolism: facing mortality directly; transforms fear into ethical restraint and purposeful practice.

West — Varuṇa, on a makara (sea creature)
Element/quality: water, depths, vows
Symbolism: harnesses emotional and oceanic depths; samaya (vows) as the vessel that contains and purifies.

North — Yakṣa, on a horse
Element/quality: earth, vitality, guardianship
Symbolism: channels protective wealth/energy; grounds the field so activity stays beneficial.

North-East — Īśāna, on a bull
Element/quality: synthesis, sovereign (Śivaic) power
Symbolism: stabilizing, incisive wisdom; the crown of wrathful awareness that integrates the quarters.

South-East — Agni, on a goat
Element/quality: fire, heat (tummo-like)
Symbolism: purification and transformation; burns obscurations and ignites disciplined zeal.

South-West — Rākṣasa, on a zombie
Element/quality: obstruction, raw impulse
Symbolism: binding and taming demonic habits; converts untamed drives into protective force.

North-West — Vāyu, on a deer
Element/quality: wind, movement, agility
Symbolism: refines restlessness into precise mindfulness; swift responsiveness at the mandala’s rim.

Conclusion

The Great Eight Charnel Grounds, as seen through the lens of Vajrayāna, are not morbid ornamentation but a comprehensive training ground. They place death, fear, and decay at the margin of the holy area so that practitioners learn to face the most difficult challenges without flinching. Whether identified in the Cakrasaṃvara cycle, enumerated in Nyingma lists for peaceful mandalas, or enlarged to sixteen in Kālacakra, the message remains consistent: waking encompasses and transforms suffering. The vivid landscape (corpses, scavengers, flames, spirit hosts), the directional structure, and even soundmarks such as "Ur Ur" and "Kili Kili" all contribute to a symbolic language that transforms aversion into fearless, compassionate awareness.

These graves, framed by the Eight Direction Gods, also teach how to harness the energies of the elements, guardians, and even "untamed" forces on the way. In ritual imagery, they ring the deity's palace; in art, they ring the mandala; and in daily practice, they ring our everyday lives, reminding us to keep impermanence near, to see fear as a doorway, and to turn every encounter into fuel for enlightenment. In short, the charnel grounds represent the wrathful face of love: they demonstrate that the route to emancipation is right at the edge of what we would rather avoid.