The Bodhisattva Monju (Manjushri) with Eight Topknots

The Bodhisattva Monju (Manjushri) with Eight Topknots

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This miniature sculpture represents a distinctive form of the bodhisattva Monju, who personifies Buddhist wisdom. This iteration of the deity shows him with his hair coiffed into eight knots, corresponding to the number of syllables in a corresponding incantation. It probably once formed part of a decorative program for the mandorla (aureole) of a much larger sculpture.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Bodhisattva Monju (Manjushri) with Eight TopknotsThe Bodhisattva Monju (Manjushri) with Eight TopknotsThe Bodhisattva Monju (Manjushri) with Eight TopknotsThe Bodhisattva Monju (Manjushri) with Eight TopknotsThe Bodhisattva Monju (Manjushri) with Eight Topknots

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.