A zoomorphic mask motif of Taotie, the fifth son of the Dragon King (fig.) and a ferocious mythical animal, represented as a face with two horns and a wide mouth without a lower jaw.

It is here embossed on a stationary Buddhist prayer wheel (fig.) in a Tibetan-style Lamaist temple. Taotie is very similar to and reminiscent of kirtimukha in India (fig.), also known as a kala or kala face, and which is placed above temple entrances to drive away evil.