The University of Nalanda c12.78

c12.78

Other Tāntric images found at Nālandā which have been already taken note of are Yamāntaka, Vajrasattva, Aparājitā, Mañjuvara and Vajrapāṇi. Of this group, Vajrapāṇi belongs to the Divine Bodhisattvas. His main characteristics are that he holds a vajra and in his tiara carries the image of his spiritual father Akṣobhaya.² Mañjuvara forms one of the varieties of the popular god Mañjuśrī. The Nālandā image bears all the signs—*Dharmacakramudrā*, Lion-vehicle, *Prajñāpāramitā* on lotus—except the last, *viz.*, the sitting attitude, which must be either *Lalita* or *Ardhaparyaṅka*, whereas in the figure it is *Paryaṅka*.³