Himalayan Art Resources

Buddhist Protector: Shri Devi, Magzor Gyalmo Main Page

Magzor Gyalmo Masterworks

- Art History

- Iconography

- Religious Context


Videos:
- Magzor Gyalmo
- Two Early Magzor Gyalmo Paintings (HAR on Patreon)
- Shri Devi: Introduction

Shri Devi, Magzor Gyalmo (Tibetan: pal den lha mo, mag gyi zor le, gyal mo. English: Glorious Goddess, the Queen who Repels Armies, or the Queen who has the power to turn back armies. Sanskrit: Shri Devi, Yakshi Remati): belonging to the larger class of enlightened protector deities known as Shri Devi. Magzor Gyalmo is regarded as a wrathful emanation of the peaceful goddess Sarasvati, although popular in both Hinduism and Buddhism, the Buddhist deity is more properly known as Vajra Sarasvati and of a different entity and nature than the Hindu goddess Sarasvati. Within the Buddhist Tantric tradition Vajra Sarasavti is believed to be an enlightened deity while the Hindu form of the goddess is believed to be worldly in nature and not enlightened.

Study Topics:
1. Shri Devi class of deities
2. Magzorma: iconographic description
3. Peaceful form: Sarasvati
4. Source texts: Nyingma, Sarma
5. Practice lineages: Sakya & related, Gelug
6. Popularity in art
- Others...

The textual source for Magzor Gyalmo is the Dakinyagnijihajvala Tantra, Dege Kanjur, volume 98, pp.223-253. It is found in the Nyingma Tantra section, vol.3. TBRC w22084.

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Jeff Watt 5-2003 [updated 5-2017, 12-2019]

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