The Goddess of the White Umbrella (the Buddhist deity Ushnisha-sitatapatra) is one of many powerful female deities. She manifests her power with her thousand heads, arms, and legs. She has eyes on the palms of each of her hands and soles...

The main image in this painting is Avalokiteshvara (1), the Bodhisattva of Compassion. He is the principle patron deity of Tibet. He sits on a lotus throne upon a lunar disc. This god takes many forms, such as the Dalai Lamas of Tibet,...

Mahakala Bramanarupa is one of over 70 different deities of the Mahakala type. These are wrathful deities particularly adept at quelling monsters and overcoming demons, whether they be outer, inner or secret. Some deities, such as...

This black cabinet was once stored in the gongkhang of an unknown temple in Tibet. Forbidden to the uninitiated, the gongkhang is a special room set aside for the worship of wrathful deities, where only the initiated monks of the...

Prayer wheels are an example of Buddhist technology. This technology allowed the faithful to multiply the number of prayers they expressed by millions. This is because prayer wheels are filled with copies of mantras (sacred spells...

The vajra (Tibetan: Dorjie) and bell (Sanskrit: ghanta; Tibetan: drilbu) are the most important ritual objects of Tibetan Buddhism. Most every lama has a pair and knows how to use them. They represent "method" (vajra) and "wisdom"...

This is an image of the goddess Durga. She is shown in a triumphant pose as the slayer of the buffalo demon, Mahisha. Durga is a manifestation of the Goddess, who can also appear as the consort Parvati or as a destructive figure Kali....

Yogini temples typically included sculptures of seven female goddesses known as matrikas ("mother-goddesses"). These feminized versions of Hindu gods are identifiable by the most common attributes of their male forms. The goddess here is...

This is a container to hold cold, fresh water made especially for use in the Japanese tea gathering. Its shape reminds us of a wooden bucket used to carry water from a well, but it is made out of porcelain, a glazed ceramic fired at a...