Item: Vajrakila (Eight Pronouncements) - (Retinue Figure, Female)

Vajrakila Initiation Card.

This small drawing of a red bird-headed goddess belongs to a larger set of ritual images numbering more than thirty. They are used as flash cards during initiation rituals introducing the initiate into the visual system and the variety of forms specific to that meditation practice. An inscription on the back helps to establish the identification. Sets of cards like this are common for all initiation rituals in Tantric Buddhism and in the Bon religion.

Jeff Watt 5-2005

Thematic Sets
Collection of RMA: Illuminations & Manuscript Masterworks
Collection of Rubin Museum of Art: Painting Gallery 3
Initiation Cards: Miscellaneous (Various Collections)
Buddhist Deity: Vajrakila Main Page
Subject: Miscellaneous Objects