Himalayan Art Resources

Item: Manjushri (Bodhisattva & Buddhist Deity) - (Wutaishan Mountain)

འཇམ་དཔལ་དབྱངས། 文殊师利菩萨
(item no. 88767)
Origin Location China
Date Range 1700 - 1799
Lineages Gelug and Buddhist
Size 56.52x37.47cm (22.25x14.75in)
Material Ground Mineral Pigment on Cotton
Collection San Diego Museum of Art
Catalogue # acc. #1971:33, Gift of Carl Skinner through George Rodetis
Notes about the Central Figure

Classification: Deity

Interpretation / Description

Five Manjushri of Wutaishan Mountain.

At the center of the composition is a large Sita Manjushri (sita) with four surrounding Manjushri forms: yellow, black, orange and red. At the top center is the Tibetan teacher Tsongkapa with Vajradhara slightly below on the left and Chakrasamvara slightly below on the right. At the upper left is a Dalai Lama and at the upper right an unidentified teacher.

At the bottom are five forms of Yama Dharmaraja the wrathful emanation of Manjushri that serves as the protector deity for followers of the Vajrabhairava Tantric system. Yama Dharmaraja is also one of the three special protector deities of the Gelug Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism.

Jeff Watt 5-2011

Related Items
Thematic Sets
Buddhist Deity: Manjushri Main Page
Collection of San Diego Museum of Art
Subject: Five Manjushri of Mount Wutaishan, China
Buddhist Deity: Manjushri, White, Main Page
Buddhist Deity: Manjushri, White (Sword & Book)