Esoteric Personification of the Vajra

Esoteric Personification of the Vajra

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This wrathful Tantric Buddhist personage, with a shaved head, a vertical third eye, and upward-pointing fangs, is unidentified. His jewelry derives from eastern Indian prototypes of the Pala period (9th–12th century). He points a single-pronged thunderbolt scepter (vajra) toward a heart-shaped cavity at the center of his chest, itself occupied by a multipronged vajra. In his raised hand he holds a sword pommel with a guard in the shape of a lion's head.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Esoteric Personification of the VajraEsoteric Personification of the VajraEsoteric Personification of the VajraEsoteric Personification of the VajraEsoteric Personification of the Vajra

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.