China / Tibet: Figure of Yamantaka, with a bull's head, eight human heads and 36 arms, in coitus with female consort. Bronze, 18th century

Yamantaka or Vajrabhairava is a deity of the Anuttarayoga Tantra class popular within the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. Yamantaka is seen as a wrathful manifestation of Manjusri, the bodhisattva of wisdom, and in other contexts functions as a dharmapala.

Within Buddhism, 'terminating death' is a quality of all buddhas as they have stopped the cycle of rebirth, samsara. Yamantaka represents the goal of the Mahayana journey to enlightenment, or the journey itself.

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Supplier: CPA Media Co. Ltd.

Photographer:

Frans Pegt

Credit:

Pictures From History