The Indian Buddhist Iconography, Mainly Based on the Sadhanamala and Other Cognate Tantric Texts of Rituals c12.11

c12.11

From above it appears that Mañjuśrī was a great man who brought civilization to Nepal from China. He had apparently extraordinary engineering skill, and was a great architect. It is not definitely known when he came down to Nepal from China, but there is no doubt that in 300 A. D. he was well-known as a Bodhisattva. He wielded great influence on the minds of the Buddhists, and the Mahāyānists worshipped him in various forms and in various ways. He is known in almost all the countries in the continent of Asia where Buddhism had its sway. Various countries conceived various forms of Mañjuśrī, but there was a definite Indian tradition with regard to the conception of Mañjuśrī and it is the purpose of this section to deal with the images that are purely Indian or are influenced largely by the Indian tradition.