Vajradhara Buddha Seated Holding a Thunderbolt (Vajra) and Bell (Ghanta)

Discussion

FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

This silver figure, though adorned like a bodhisattva, is more likely the Buddha Vajradhara. It probably served as the center of a three-dimensional mandala. The Buddha sits in the meditation posture while holding a vajra (thunderbolt) and bell in a gesture known as vajrahumkara (the adamantine sound). Certain sects of Himalayan Buddhism consider Vajradhara the creator and supreme power. He is the originator of the Five Transcendental Buddhas and embodies shunyata (voidness).

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