Attributes of Mahākāla in a "rgyan tshogs" banner. Distemper painting by a Tibetan painter.

The skull bowl and chopper indicate that this is the banner of the Buddhist deity Mahākāla. There is also a vase and a second skull bowl with eyes protruding from it and also elephant skins which are an attribute of Mahākāla. Also included are flayed human skins indicating the austerities undertaken by ascetics; horses, lions, goats, sheep and birds, presumably of some symbolic import. They may also figure in stories by Tibetans about Mahākāla