Item: Shri Devi (Buddhist Protector) - Magzor Gyalmo

Magzor Gyalmo (English: Queen of the Weapon Army), the wrathful form of the goddess Sarasvati.

Tibetan: Magzor Gyalmo

With one face and two hands, she holds aloft a stick in the right hand and a skullcup in the left held to the heart. Above the head are three peacock feathers. She rides atop a donkey standing in the middle of an ocean of blood with an attendant in front and another behind. At the top center is the peaceful goddess of wisdom Sarasvati and in the four corners are the retinue attendant figures; Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter.

This subject, often commonly ascribed as Shri Devi (who has four hands), is in fact the main attendant to Shri Devi and they are two different deities with different histories and personalities. 'The Queen of the Weapon Army' is the wrathful aspect of the very peaceful goddess Sarasvati (yang chen ma). This is indicated in the painting with Rakta Yamari, a wrathful form of Manjushri, painted in the upper corner. Any serious undertaking of the practice of 'The Queen of the Weapon Army' is always done with a self-visualization of some wrathful form of Manjushri. She is always a protector and is also used for divination rituals. Most Tibetan Schools have some form of this deity.

Jeff Watt 3-2002