This 11.5″ Yamantaka sculpture is partly fire gilded in 24K gold — the figures and key ornamental elements gilded against a dark red oxidized copper inner mandorla and lotus throne — with all faces hand painted in the ferocious detail that the iconometric requirements of Yamantaka’s tradition demand. The crown and jewels of the Bodhisattva crown can be additionally embellished with turquoise and red coral stones at no extra charge before shipping. The sculpture was handcrafted in Patan, Nepal by master Newar artisans using the traditional lost wax sculpting method with fine hand-carved detail throughout the extraordinarily complex multi-armed, multi-faced composition.
Yamantaka — the wrathful manifestation of Manjushri, Bodhisattva of Wisdom — is the “Conqueror of Death,” so named because he has transcended the cycle of rebirth entirely and can therefore act as the destroyer of death for practitioners whose practice ripens under his influence. When Yama, the Lord of Death and keeper of the Buddhist hell realms, threatened all beings with inescapable subjugation, Yamantaka appeared in a form of surpassing ferocity — with the buffalo head he took from Yama himself, eight additional faces, and more arms and legs than death could counter — and subdued him definitively. At the crown of his nine faces, Manjushri’s own serene golden face is always present, visible above the terrifying buffalo head: the fierce outer form is the expression of that same wisdom, wisdom in its most forceful and uncompromising mode, not a departure from it. Learn more about Yamantaka’s iconography and practice.
Yamantaka Sculpture Features
This sculpture depicts Yamantaka in his complete iconographic form: 9 faces — the buffalo head as the primary face of death-subduing ferocity, with eight additional ferocious faces and Manjushri’s serene face at the crown — 32 arms each holding a specific sharp weapon or ritual implement directed against the forces of death and delusion, and 16 legs trampling on the corpses of negativity beneath him. The composition stands within the flame mandorla of pristine awareness that consumes all neurotic mental states without remainder. The gold and red colour treatment of this sculpture — bright gilded figures against the dark red of the inner mandorla and throne — gives the iconographic complexity of this most elaborate of all Tibetan Buddhist wrathful deities its visual coherence as a unified composition.
Authentic, Handmade in Nepal
Every statue and ritual item is handcrafted in Patan, Nepal, using traditional lost wax casting and comes with a certificate of authenticity issued by Nepal's Department of Archaeology, verifying its materials, technique, and origin.
