Himalayan Art Resources

Item: Yogambara (Buddhist Deity) - (Three Faces, Six Arms)

ནམ་མཁའི་རྣལ་འབྱོར། ནང་ལྷ། 瑜伽虚佛(佛教本尊)
(item no. 776)
Origin Location Tibet
Lineages Buddhist
Size 27.94x21.59cm (11x8.50in)
Material Ground Mineral Pigment on Cotton
Collection Rubin Museum of Art
Notes about the Central Figure

Classification: Deity

Appearance: Semi-Peaceful

Gender: Male

TBRC: bdr:W25336

Interpretation / Description

Yogambara, a tutelary deity belonging to the Wisdom-mother class of Anuttarayoga tantra, made famous in the Vajravali text of the Indian Pandita Abhayakaragupta.

Semi-wrathful in appearance, dark blue in colour, he has three faces, blue, white and red. The main pair of hands holds a vajra and bell in a gesture of embrace. The second right caresses the breast of the consort Jnana Dakini. The third holds aloft an arrow. The second left holds a white skullcup and the third upraised a bow. Seated in vajra posture atop a sun disc, lotus and a white snow lion, he is surrounded by a red-orange nimbus.

The deity Yogambara arises from the Chaturpita Tantra and is typically surrounded by a 77 deity mandala. The practice was popularized in Tibet by Marpa the Translator and his student Ngog Lotsawa.

Jeff Watt 7-2003

Related Items
Thematic Sets
Collection of Rubin Museum of Art: Painting Gallery 8
Buddhist Deity: Yogambara Main Page
Subject: Suspect Art Page