Yamantaka

The thangka is a sacred painting from the present era and is used in religious ceremonies by monks of the Gelugpa school of Tibetan Buddhism. Yamantaka is a wrathful emanation of Manjushri which represents the principle of transcendent wisdom. According to tradition, a powerful yogin who lived in a cave went out for a meditative sojourn. Robbers entered his cave and chopped off the head of the yogin for fear of retribution. The yogin, seeing his decapitated body, stuck a bull's head on it, thus creating a demon who began to slaughter people in a nearby village. The villagers pleaded with Manjushri to help them. Manjushri took the form of a multi-armed diety which, although possessing the full force of raging death, ultimately transcended the forces of death and destruction.