22
Dec
2021
Peaceful and Wrathful Vajrapani in Arts
Vajrapani is one of Mahayana Buddhism’s first bodhisattvas. He is the Buddha’s defender and adviser, and he rose to represent the Buddha’s might.
Vajrapani was one of the three protection deities who surrounded the Buddha in Buddhist imagery. Manjusri (the manifestation of all the Buddhas’ wisdom), Avalokitesvara (the manifestation of all the Buddhas’ compassion), and Vajrapani (the manifestation of all the Buddhas’ power) each represent one of the Buddha’s virtues.
Vajrapani is also one of the early Dharmapalas and one of the few Buddhist deities venerated in the Shaolin Temple’s original Zen Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism, and even Pure Land Buddhism (where he is known as Mahasthamaprapta). Vajrapani manifests as Dharma defenders known as Nio in numerous Buddhist temples around Japan.
Table of Contents
- 1 - Wrathful Vajrapani Thangkas
- 2 - Peaceful Vajrapani Thangkas
- 3 - Mandalas of Vajrapani
- 3.1 - 14th Century Vajrapani Mandala
- 3.2 - 14th Century Mandala of Vajrapani
- 3.3 - Vajrapani Tibetan Mandala
- 3.4 - 15th Century Mandala of Vajrapani
- 3.5 - 17th Century Mandala of Vajrapani
- 3.6 - 18th Century Mandala of Vajrapani
- 3.7 - Vajrapani Buddhist Mandala
- 3.8 - Vajrapani Ritual Mandala
- 3.9 - Tibetan Vajrapani Mandala
- 3.10 - Buddhist Vajrapani Mandala
- 4 - Statues of Vajrapani
Wrathful Vajrapani Thangkas
Wrathful Vajrapani is shown as a wild dancer surrounded by flames, which symbolize metamorphosis.
In his right hand, he holds a vajra (thunderbolt), emphasizing the ability to cut through the darkness of delusion. Vajrapani appears enraged, but as a symbol of the enlightened mind, he is absolutely devoid of anger.
Vajrapani’s mantra is merely his name, which means “wielder of the thunderbolt,” with the mystical phrases Om and Hm enclosed between them.
This mantra allows us to tap into the unstoppable energy that Vajrapani represents. Of course, prior knowledge of Vajrapani is beneficial, while the mantra’s sound is energizing in and of itself.
The Mantra oṃ vajrapāṇi hūṃ phaṭ is associated with Vajrapani. His Seed Syllable is hūṃ
14th Century Vajrapani Thangka
This Vajrapani Thangka is from the Rubin Museum of Art. The origin of this thangka is Tibet between 1400 – 1499. Vajrapani s from Nyingma and Kagyu lineage.
The size of this thangka is 43.82×41.28cm (17.25×16.25in). The material used to make this thangka is Ground Mineral Pigment, Fine Gold Line on Cotton. Vajrapani is Blue in color with one face and two hands.
His right-hand holds aloft in the golden vajra scepter. His left-hand holds a vajra-handled bell and embraces the consort who is also blue with one face and two hands.
| Name | Vajrapani |
| Tibetan Name | ཕྱག་ན་རྡོ་རྗེ། |
| Chinese Name | 金刚手菩萨 |
| Origin | Tibet |
| Date Range | 1400 – 1499 |
| Lineage | Nyingma and Kagyu |
| Material | Ground Mineral Pigment, Fine Gold Line on Cotton |
| Size | 43.82×41.28cm (17.25×16.25in) |
| Classification | Deity |
| Collection | Rubin Museum of Art |
17th Century Bhutadamara Vajrapani Thangka
This Vajrapani Thangka is from the Rubin Museum of Art. The origin of this thangka is Tibet between 1700 – 1799. Vajrapani s from Buddhist lineage.
The size of this thangka is 69.22×46.36cm (27.25×18.25in). The material used to make this thangka is Ground Mineral Pigment, Fine Gold Line on Cotton. Vajrapani is Blue in color with one face and two hands.
His right-hand holds aloft in the golden vajra scepter. His left-hand holds a vajra-handled bell and embraces the consort who is also blue with one face and two hands. He is wrathful in appearance.
| Name | Bhutadamara Vajrapani |
| Tibetan Name | ཕྱག་ན་རྡོ་རྗེ། |
| Chinese Name | 金刚手菩萨 |
| Origin | Tibet |
| Date Range | 1700 – 1799 |
| Lineage | Buddhist |
| Material | Ground Mineral Pigment, Fine Gold Line on Cotton |
| Size | 69.22×46.36cm (27.25×18.25in) |
| Classification | Deity |
| Appearance | Wrathful |
| Gender | Male |
| Collection | Rubin Museum of Art |
16th Century Vajrapani Tibetan Thangka
This Vajrapani Thangka is from the Shelley & Donald Rubin. The origin of this thangka is Tibet between 1600 – 1699. Vajrapani s from the Nyingma lineage.
The size of this thangka is 93.98×66.04cm (37x26in). The material used to make this thangka is Ground Mineral Pigment on Cotton.
| Name | Vajrapani |
| Tibetan Name | ཕྱག་ན་རྡོ་རྗེ། |
| Chinese Name | 金刚手菩萨 |
| Origin | Tibet |
| Date Range | 1600 – 1699 |
| Lineage | Nyingma |
| Material | Ground Mineral Pigment on Cotton. |
| Size | 93.98×66.04cm (37x26in) |
| Classification | Deity |
| Collection | Shelley & Donald Rubin |
Vajrapani Traditional Thangka
This Vajrapani Thangka is from the private collection. The origin of this thangka is Tibet between 1700 – 1799. Vajrapani s from the Nyingma, Gelug, and Buddhist lineage.
Vajrapani is wrathful in appearance. The material used to make this thangka is Ground Mineral Pigment on Cotton.
| Name | Vajrapani |
| Tibetan Name | ཕྱག་ན་རྡོ་རྗེ། |
| Chinese Name | 金刚手菩萨 |
| Origin | Tibet |
| Date Range | 1700 – 1799 |
| Lineage | Nyingma, Gelug, and Buddhist |
| Appearance | Wrathful |
| Material | Ground Mineral Pigment on Cotton |
| Classification | Deity |
| Collection | Rubin Museum of Art |
Vajrapani Ritual Statue
This Vajrapani Thangka is from the private collection. The origin of this thangka is Tibet between 1700 – 1799. Vajrapani s from the Jonang (Sakya) and Buddhist lineage.
The material used to make this thangka is Ground Mineral Pigment on Cotton. He is wrathful in appearance.
| Name | Vajrapani |
| Tibetan Name | ཕྱག་ན་རྡོ་རྗེ། |
| Chinese Name | 金刚手菩萨 |
| Origin | Tibet |
| Date Range | 1700 – 1799 |
| Lineage | Jonang (Sakya) and Buddhist |
| Material | Ground Mineral Pigment on Cotton |
| Size | Wrathful |
| Gender | Male |
| Classification | Deity |
| Collection | Rubin Museum of Art |
Tibetan Vajrapani Thangka
This Vajrapani Thangka is from a private collection. The material used to make this thangka is Black Background.
| Name | Vajrapani |
| Chinese Name | 金刚手菩萨 |
| Tibetan Name | ཕྱག་ན་རྡོ་རྗེ། |
| Material | Black Background |
| Collection | Private |
Buddhist Vajrapani Thangka
This Vajrapani Thangka is from the Shechen Archives – photographs. The origin of this thangka is Eastern Tibet. Vajrapani s from the Buddhist lineage.
The material used to make this thangka is Ground Mineral Pigment on Cotton. At the top right corner of the Vajrapani, there is Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo.
| Name | Vajrapani |
| Tibetan Name | ཕྱག་ན་རྡོ་རྗེ། |
| Chinese Name | 金刚手菩萨 |
| Origin | Eastern Tibet |
| Lineage | Buddhist |
| Material | Ground Mineral Pigment on Cotton |
| Classification | Deity |
| Collection | Shechen Archives – photographs |
Peaceful Vajrapani Thangkas
Peaceful Vajrapani can be seated in a number of positions or standing with straight legs or a slight bend in the body with one leg slightly forward or to the side.
In his right hand, he wields a vajra scepter, or a vajra is supported by a flower bloom over his right shoulder.
Vajrapani’s particular attribute is the vajra. It is also the most important distinguishing feature in recognizing Vajrapani.
Holds a bell in the left hand, which is sometimes supported over a flower over the left shoulder. Because the bell is not a mandatory element of Vajrapani, it is not always shown.
18th Century Thangka of Vajrapani
This Vajrapani Thangka is from the Rubin Museum of Art. The origin of this thangka is Eastern Tibet between 1800 – 1899. Vajrapani s from the Karma (Kagyu) and Uncertain lineage.
The size of this thangka is 79.38×52.07cm (31.25×20.50in). The material used to make this thangka is Ground Mineral Pigment, Fine Gold Line on Cotton.
| Name | Vajrapani |
| Tibetan Name | ཕྱག་ན་རྡོ་རྗེ། |
| Chinese Name | 金刚手菩萨 |
| Origin | Eastern Tibet |
| Date Range | 1800 – 1899 |
| Lineage | Karma (Kagyu) and Uncertain |
| Material | Ground Mineral Pigment, Fine Gold Line on Cotton |
| Size | 79.38×52.07cm (31.25×20.50in) |
| Classification | Deity |
| Collection | Rubin Museum of Art |
Vajrapani Buddhist Thangka
This Vajrapani Thangka is from the Rubin Museum of Art. The origin of this thangka is Tibet between 1800 – 1899. Vajrapani s from the Buddhist lineage.
The size of this thangka is 81.28×57.15cm (32×22.50in). The material used to make this thangka is Ground Mineral Pigment on Cotton.
| Name | Vajrapani |
| Tibetan Name | ཕྱག་ན་རྡོ་རྗེ། |
| Chinese Name | 金刚手菩萨 |
| Origin | Tibet |
| Date Range | 1800 – 1899 |
| Lineage | Buddhist |
| Material | Ground Mineral Pigment on Cotton |
| Size | 81.28×57.15cm (32×22.50in) |
| Classification | Deity |
| Collection | Rubin Museum of Art |
17th Century Thangka of Vajrapani
This Vajrapani Thangka is from the Private Collection. The origin of this thangka is China between 1700 – 1799. Vajrapani s from the Buddhist lineage.
The material used to make this thangka is Ground Mineral Pigment on Cotton. Vajrapani is golden in color which is probably the choice of the donor or the artist. In a peaceful guise, Vajrapani is often painted green or blue, but there are no iconographic rules for depicting the bodhisattva figures of the Mahayana sutras.
| Name | Vajrapani |
| Tibetan Name | ཕྱག་ན་རྡོ་རྗེ། |
| Chinese Name | 金刚手菩萨 |
| Origin | China |
| Date Range | 1700 – 1799 |
| Lineage | Buddhist |
| Material | Ground Mineral Pigment on Cotton |
| Classification | Deity |
| Collection | Private |
Mandalas of Vajrapani
14th Century Vajrapani Mandala
This Vajrapani mandala is from the Rubin Museum of Art. The origin of this mandala is Tibet between 1400 – 1499. Vajrapani s from the Sakya and Ngor (Sakya) lineage.
The material used to make this mandala is Ground Mineral Pigment on Cotton. Vajrapani is peaceful in appearance.
| Name | Vajrapani |
| Tibetan Name | ཕྱག་ན་རྡོ་རྗེ། |
| Chinese Name | 金刚手菩萨 |
| Origin | Tibet |
| Date Range | 1400 – 1499 |
| Lineage | Sakya and Ngor (Sakya) |
| Material | Ground Mineral Pigment on Cotton |
| Classification | Deity |
| Appearance | Peaceful |
| Gender | Male |
| Collection | Rubin Museum of Art |
14th Century Mandala of Vajrapani
This Vajrapani mandala is from the Rubin Museum of Art. The origin of this mandala is Tibet between 1400 – 1499. Vajrapani s from the Uncertain lineage.
The size of this mandala is 44.45×34.29cm (17.50×13.50in). The material used to make this mandala is Ground Mineral Pigment, Fine Gold Line on Cotton. Vajrapani is peaceful in appearance.
| Name | Vajrapani |
| Tibetan Name | ཕྱག་ན་རྡོ་རྗེ། |
| Chinese Name | 金刚手菩萨 |
| Origin | Tibet |
| Date Range | 1400 – 1499 |
| Lineage | Uncertain |
| Size | 44.45×34.29cm (17.50×13.50in) |
| Material | Ground Mineral Pigment, Fine Gold Line on Cotton |
| Classification | Deity |
| Appearance | Peaceful |
| Gender | Male |
| Collection | Rubin Museum of Art |
Vajrapani Tibetan Mandala
This Vajrapani mandala is from the Rubin Museum of Art. The origin of this mandala is Western Tibet between 1400 – 1499. Vajrapani s from the Sakya lineage.
The size of this mandala is 38.10×43.82cm (15×17.25in). The material used to make this mandala is Ground Mineral Pigment on Cotton. Vajrapani is peaceful in appearance.
| Name | Vajrapani |
| Tibetan Name | ཕྱག་ན་རྡོ་རྗེ། |
| Chinese Name | 金刚手菩萨 |
| Origin | Western Tibet |
| Date Range | 1400 – 1499 |
| Lineage | Sakya |
| Size | 38.10×43.82cm (15×17.25in) |
| Material | Ground Mineral Pigment on Cotton |
| Classification | Deity |
| Appearance | Peaceful |
| Gender | Male |
| Collection | Rubin Museum of Art |
15th Century Mandala of Vajrapani
This Vajrapani mandala is from a private collection. The origin of this mandala is Tibet between 1500 – 1599. Vajrapani s from the Sakya, Ngor (Sakya), and Buddhist lineage.
The material used to make this mandala is Ground Mineral Pigment on Cotton. Vajrapani is peaceful in appearance.
| Name | Vajrapani |
| Tibetan Name | ཕྱག་ན་རྡོ་རྗེ། |
| Chinese Name | 金刚手菩萨 |
| Origin | Tibet |
| Date Range | 1500 – 1599 |
| Lineage | Sakya, Ngor (Sakya), and Buddhist |
| Material | Ground Mineral Pigment on Cotton |
| Classification | Deity |
| Appearance | Peaceful |
| Gender | Male |
| Collection | Private |
17th Century Mandala of Vajrapani
This Vajrapani mandala is from the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. The origin of this mandala is Tibet between 1700 – 1799. Vajrapani s from the Sakya and Buddhist lineage.
The material used to make this mandala is Ground Mineral Pigment on Cotton. Vajrapani is peaceful in appearance.
| Name | Vajrapani |
| Tibetan Name | ཕྱག་ན་རྡོ་རྗེ། |
| Chinese Name | 金刚手菩萨 |
| Origin | Tibet |
| Date Range | 1700 – 1799 |
| Lineage | Sakya and Buddhist |
| Material | Ground Mineral Pigment on Cotton |
| Classification | Deity |
| Appearance | Peaceful |
| Gender | Male |
| Collection | University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology |
18th Century Mandala of Vajrapani
This Vajrapani mandala is from the Zanabazar Museum of Fine Arts. The origin of this mandala is Mongolia between 1400 – 1499. Vajrapani s from the Gelug lineage.
The material used to make this mandala is Ground Mineral Pigment on Cotton.
| Name | Vajrapani |
| Tibetan Name | ཕྱག་ན་རྡོ་རྗེ། |
| Chinese Name | 金刚手菩萨 |
| Origin | Mongolia |
| Date Range | 1800 – 1899 |
| Lineage | Gelug |
| Material | Ground Mineral Pigment on Cotton |
| Classification | Deity |
| Collection | Zanabazar Museum of Fine Arts |
Vajrapani Buddhist Mandala
This Vajrapani mandala is from a private collection. Vajrapani is peaceful in appearance.
| Name | Vajrapani |
| Tibetan Name | ཕྱག་ན་རྡོ་རྗེ། |
| Chinese Name | 金刚手菩萨 |
| Classification | Deity |
| Appearance | Peaceful |
| Gender | Male |
| Collection | Private |
Vajrapani Ritual Mandala
This Vajrapani mandala is from a private collection. Vajrapani is peaceful in appearance.
| Name | Vajrapani |
| Tibetan Name | ཕྱག་ན་རྡོ་རྗེ། |
| Chinese Name | 金刚手菩萨 |
| Classification | Deity |
| Appearance | Peaceful |
| Gender | Male |
| Collection | Private |
Tibetan Vajrapani Mandala
This Vajrapani mandala is from a private collection. Vajrapani is peaceful in appearance. The origin of this mandala is India between 1960 -. Vajrapani s from the Buddhist lineage.
The material used to make this mandala is Ground: Paper.
| Name | Vajrapani |
| Tibetan Name | ཕྱག་ན་རྡོ་རྗེ། |
| Chinese Name | 金刚手菩萨 |
| Origin | India |
| Date Range | 1960 – |
| Lineage | Buddhist |
| Material | Ground: Paper |
| Classification | Deity |
| Collection | Private |
Buddhist Vajrapani Mandala
This Vajrapani mandala is from a private collection. Vajrapani is peaceful in appearance. The origin of this mandala is India between 1960 -. Vajrapani s from the Buddhist lineage.
The material used to make this mandala is Ground: Paper. He is peaceful in appearance.
| Name | Vajrapani |
| Tibetan Name | ཕྱག་ན་རྡོ་རྗེ། |
| Chinese Name | 金刚手菩萨 |
| Origin | India |
| Date Range | 1960 – |
| Lineage | Buddhist |
| Material | Ground: Paper |
| Classification | Deity |
| Appearance | Peaceful |
| Gender | Male |
| Collection | Private |
Statues of Vajrapani
Vajrapani Statue
This Vajrapani Statue is from a private collection. Vajrapani is from a Buddhist lineage.
| Name | Tibet |
| Chinese Name | 任何中心人物 |
| Tibetan Name | དབུས་ཀྱི་སྣང་བརྙན་གང་རུང་། |
| Lineage | Buddhist |
| Collection | Private |
Vajrapani Tibetan Statue
This Vajrapani Statue is from a private collection. Vajrapani is peaceful in appearance. Vajrapani is from a Buddhist lineage. He is peaceful in appearance.
The material used to make this statue is Metal, Mercuric Gild.
| Name | Vajrapani |
| Tibetan Name | ཕྱག་ན་རྡོ་རྗེ། |
| Chinese Name | 金刚手菩萨 |
| Lineage | Buddhist |
| Material | Metal, Mercuric Gild |
| Classification | Deity |
| Appearance | Peaceful |
| Gender | Male |
| Collection | Private |
Vajrapani Buddhist Statue
This Vajrapani Statue is from a private collection. The origin of this statue is Tibet. Vajrapani is from a Buddhist lineage.
| Name | Vajrapani |
| Tibetan Name | ཕྱག་ན་རྡོ་རྗེ། |
| Chinese Name | 金刚手菩萨 |
| Lineage | Buddhist |
| Origin | Tibet |
| Classification | Deity |
| Collection | Private |
Vajrapani Traditional Statue
This Vajrapani Statue is from a private collection. The origin of this statue is Tibet. Vajrapani is from a Buddhist lineage.
| Name | Vajrapani |
| Tibetan Name | ཕྱག་ན་རྡོ་རྗེ། |
| Chinese Name | 金刚手菩萨 |
| Lineage | Buddhist |
| Origin | Tibet |
| Classification | Deity |
| Collection | Private |
13th Century Statue of Vajrapani
This Vajrapani Statue is from a private collection. The origin of this statue is Tibet between 1300-1399. Vajrapani is from a Buddhist lineage.
He is peaceful in appearance.
| Name | Vajrapani |
| Tibetan Name | ཕྱག་ན་རྡོ་རྗེ། |
| Chinese Name | 金刚手菩萨 |
| Lineage | Buddhist |
| Date Range | 1300-1399 |
| Origin | Tibet |
| Material | Metal |
| Classification | Deity |
| Appearance | Peaceful |
| Gender | Male |
| Collection | Private |
Vajrapani Ritual Statue
This Vajrapani Statue is from a private collection. The origin of this statue is Tibet. Vajrapani is from a Buddhist lineage.
He is peaceful in appearance. The material used to make this statue is Metal.
| Name | Vajrapani |
| Tibetan Name | ཕྱག་ན་རྡོ་རྗེ། |
| Chinese Name | 金刚手菩萨 |
| Lineage | Buddhist |
| Origin | Tibet |
| Material | Metal |
| Classification | Deity |
| Collection | Private |
Tibetan Vajrapani Statue
This Vajrapani Statue is from a private collection. Vajrapani is from a Buddhist lineage. He is peaceful in appearance.
| Name | Vajrapani |
| Tibetan Name | ཕྱག་ན་རྡོ་རྗེ། |
| Chinese Name | 金刚手菩萨 |
| Lineage | Buddhist |
| Classification | Deity |
| Appearance | Peaceful |
| Gender | Male |
| Collection | Private |
Buddhist Vajrapani Statue
This Vajrapani Statue is from a private collection. Vajrapani is from a Buddhist lineage. He is peaceful in appearance.
| Name | Vajrapani |
| Tibetan Name | ཕྱག་ན་རྡོ་རྗེ། |
| Chinese Name | 金刚手菩萨 |
| Lineage | Buddhist |
| Classification | Deity |
| Appearance | Peaceful |
| Gender | Male |
| Collection | Private |
Traditional Vajrapani Statue
This Vajrapani Statue is from a private collection. Vajrapani is from a Buddhist lineage.
| Name | Tibet |
| Chinese Name | 任何中心人物 |
| Tibetan Name | དབུས་ཀྱི་སྣང་བརྙན་གང་རུང་། |
| Lineage | Buddhist |
| Collection | Private |
Ritual Vajrapani Statue
This Vajrapani Statue is from a private collection. Vajrapani is from a Buddhist lineage.
| Name | Tibet |
| Chinese Name | 任何中心人物 |
| Tibetan Name | དབུས་ཀྱི་སྣང་བརྙན་གང་རུང་། |
| Lineage | Buddhist |
| Collection | Private |
