Cleveland Museum of Art

Vajravarahi

Date

1300s

Medium

gilt bronze with turquoise inlay

Culture

Tibet

Department

Indian and Southeast Asian Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Vajravarahi is the tantric Buddhist counterpart to the Hindu mother goddess Varahi, identifiable by the boar head emerging above her right ear. She is a female enlightened being who emanated from the Buddhist Goddess of Perfect Wisdom. Enlightened beings transcend gender distinctions, and they can emanate as either male or female. The lithe figure dances while carrying a skull cup in her left hand. Raised up in her right hand is a ritual flaying knife with a handle in the shape of a halfvajra, used for skinning the metaphorical beast of uncontrolled passions. The pegs cast into her lower body were for holding a bone skirt.

The authoritative record is held by Cleveland Museum of Art. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.