PDF - Current Image & Data

Vajravarahi (Primary Title)

Unknown (Artist)

13th Century
Tibetan
Sculpture
Copper alloy, silver
South Asian Art
Overall (Without base): 11 × 7 1/8 × 1/2 in. (27.94 × 18.1 × 1.27 cm)
2020.43
G327 - South Asian Galleries

Tibetan Buddhism’s pantheon includes numerous female deities. Some are gentle, nurturing figures, while others are wrathful beings whose fierce energy aids Buddhist practitioners in overcoming obstacles to enlightenment. Vajravarahi—a form of the great goddess Vajrayogini—is one of the most prevalent and recognizable of these ferocious divinities. Fanged and clad in human-bone jewelry and a garland of severed heads, she dances with unbridled energy on a corpse. With a curved knife, she chops up sense organs in a skull bowl, preventing the physical senses from hindering one’s understanding of reality’s true nature. Her name means Lightning Sow, and her most distinctive attribute is the small pig head that emerges from the right side of her own.

Gift of the Zimmerman Family Collection
Art of the Himalayas: Treasures from Nepal and Tibet: Newark Museum, January 5 - March 1, 1992; Portland Art Museum, March 29 - May 24, 1992; Phoenix Art Museum, June 21 - August 16, 1992; The Helen Clay Frick Foundation, September 13 - November 8, 1992; Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, February 28 - April 25, 1993; Pacific Asia Museum, May 22 - July 31, 1993; Tampa Museum of Art, September 5 - October 31, 1993

Some object records are not complete and do not reflect VMFA's full and current knowledge. VMFA makes routine updates as records are reviewed and enhanced.