Buddhist Deity: Manjushri, Namasangiti (Sculpture)
Namasangiti Main PageSubjects, Topics & Types:
- Description (below)
- Masterworks
- Manjushri Main Page
- Confusions
- Others...
Iconographic Forms (Sculpture & Painting):
- 1 face, 2 arms, Jnanasattva
- 1 face, 4 arms, Jnanasattva
- 1 face, 4 arms
- 3 faces, 4 arms
- 3 faces, 6 arms, Manjuvajra
- 3 faces, 8 arms, Dharmadhatu Vagishvara
- 4 faces, 4 arms
- 4 faces, 8 arms, Dharmadhatu Vagishvara
- 6 faces, 2 arms, Samkshipta Guhyaka
- Others...
Videos:
- Namasangiti: Part 1
- Namasangiti: Part 2
- All Manjushri Videos
The sculpture styles below are primarily from the regions of India, Kashmir, Nepal, Tibet and China. Examples from Mongolia or from the Zanabazar style have not yet been identified. There are some additional pieces in a Pala style produced in China in the 18th century (examples: #2711, #9567).
There are very few sculptural examples of Namasangiti after the 15th century. Within the Sarma Buddhist traditions the Namasangiti fell out of popularity as a common practice. In the late 19th and early 20th century Jamgon Mipham popularized various forms of Manjushri with some similar in appearance to the traditional Namasangiti with one face and four arms. Some of these new Namasangiti-like forms are shown embracing a consort.
Jeff Watt 8-2022
English References:
Toh 360. Reciting the Names of Mañjuśrī. འཇམ་དཔལ་མཚན་བརྗོད། · 'jam dpal mtshan brjod. mañjuśrīnāmasaṃgīti. 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.
Lotsawa House: Reciting the Names of Mañjuśrī
Tantric and Taoist Studies in Honour of R.A. Stein, Melanges Chinois et Bouddhiques, Michel Strickmann, editor, Vol.20 (Brussels: Institute Belge des Hautes Etudes Chinoises, 1981). The Litany of Names of Manjushri - Text and Translation of the Manjusrinamasamgiti, Ronald M. Davidson, pp. 1-69.
Religions of India In Practice, edited by Donald S. Lopez, Jr., Princeton University Press, 1995. The Litany of names of Manjushri. Ronald M. Davidson, pp.104-125.
