Two skeletons (skt. cittipatti) link arms as they perform a macabre dance on a lotus flower that rises above a sea of blood. Each skeleton holds a skull cup and a ritual mace surmounted by a skull; tiger skins adorn their boney hips. Such imagery is often found at the entrance to-or within-secret chapels (mgon khang) dedicated to the protector deities of Tibetan monasteries. Indeed, it has been suggested that this carpet may have been used as a door cover to a gonkhang. A short, striped curtain behind the figures (perhaps representing a valance) resembles the striped cloth sometimes used as door coverings in Tibetan establishments. The carpet's size (126 x 171 cm) may reflect the unusual shape of entrances to the gonkhang, which Giuseppe Tucci (1894-1984) noted to be "low and narrow." It is possible that the carpet had other uses within a secret chapel, including that of a mat for placing ritual implements, or as some other appropriate accoutrement in the protector deities' highly specialized ritual environment. It is also possible that the carpet was used as a seat in meditation, as cittipatti were considered special protectors for practitioners of Vajrayogini meditation.