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Photograph by Bruce M. White, Rubin Museum of Art, 2008
Mandala of Vajrayogini
Photograph by Bruce M. White, Rubin Museum of Art, 2008
Photograph by Bruce M. White, Rubin Museum of Art, 2008

Mandala of Vajrayogini

OriginTibet
Date19th century
Dimensions4 3/8 x 7 x 7 in. (11.1 x 17.8 x 17.8 cm)
MediumGround mineral pigment on wood
Classification(s)
Credit LineRubin Museum of Art, Gift of Shelley and Donald Rubin
Object numberC2006.66.532
Himalayan Art Resources Number1008
DescriptionThis ritual mandala plate with the female deity Vajrayogini at its center is used primarily during an initiation ceremony. The painted depiction of the deity is representative of the body-heap mandala. In Tantric Buddhism the three essential aspects of a person are their body, speech, and mind, and these three features are ritually initiated into a mandala.