Item: Pratisara (Buddhist Deity) - (Four faces, Eight Hands)

Pratisara, Maha, of the Pancha Raksha. The Five Protectors are a group of five deities that are the personifications of five early Buddhist texts (sutra), the oldest dated to the 4th century A.D. The personifications are also of the special verbal utterances called mantras. These five deities each have specific functions and are directed towards accomplishing worldly welfare and happiness, preventing and surviving natural disasters, curing snakebite, overcoming fear and averting pestilence and epidemics.

There are many forms for each these five deities, with multiple heads and arms, and many different traditions of practice. They are popular throughout the Himalayas and Central Asia and can also be found in China and Japan.

Jeff Watt 5-2005

References:

Religions of India In Practice, edited by Donald S. Lopez, Jr. Princeton University Press, 1995. The Power of Mantra: A Story of the Five Protectors. Todd T Lewis, pp.227-234.

Thematic Sets
Collection of RMA: Selected Sculpture
Tibet: Densatil Monastery Style Sculpture
Tibet: Densatil (Deities - Miscellaneous)
Collection of Rubin Museum of Art: Densatil Sculpture
Collection of RMA: Best of Collection (Sculpture)
Buddhist Deity: Pancha Raksha Iconography
Buddhist Deity: Pratisara Main Page
Collection of Jourdan-Barry
Buddhist Deity: Pancha Raksha (Sculpture)
Sculpture: Figurative, Stone Inlay
Tibet: Densatil (Pancha Raksha)
Publication: SP 4
HAR: Utilities Page
Buddhist Deity: Pancha Raksha (Sculpture Masterworks)
Buddhist Deity: Pratisara Masterworks
Tibet: Densatil (Masterworks)
Buddhist Deity: Pancha Raksha Main Page
Collection of Rubin Museum of Art: Sculpture (Gallery 1)
Collection of Rubin Museum of Art: Nepal