This thangka depicts the deities of the bardo, the intermediate state between death and rebirth, as described in the Tibetan Book of the Dead (Bardo Thödol). The prominent placement of six forms of wrathful Herukas at the centre, clearly identifies this work as belonging to the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism.

According to Nyingma teachings, the moment of death presents a profound opportunity for enlightenment. During the bardo, the mind encounters a sequence of visionary deities: forty-two peaceful and fifty-eight wrathful forms. Without proper spiritual training or purified karma, the practitioner may fail to recognise these manifestations as projections of their own mind, thus missing the chance for liberation and falling once again into the cycle of rebirth. The present thangka only represents the wrathful deities and would likely to be paired with a thangka of the peaceful aspects.

Thangkas like this serve as visual guides to prepare both monastics and lay practitioners for death and the afterlife, aiming to free them from the cycle of samsara, or at least ensure a more favourable rebirth. A closely related thangka is held in the Rubin Museum of Art, New York (HAR 505).