page_title: Mahamayuri
section_title: Iconography
hierarchical_section_title: Mahamayuri / Iconography
caption_attribution_description: English: Mahamayuri_statue. 日本語: 孔雀明王
context_page_description: Mahamayuri, or Mahāmāyūrī Vidyārājñī is a bodhisattva and female Wisdom King in Mahayana Buddhism. Her origins are said to derive from an Indian goddess of the same name. She is also the name of one of the five protective goddesses in the Buddhist Pantheon.
  Known as the 'Queen of the secret sciences' and Mahamayuri-vidyarajni, the 'Godmother of Buddha' in Mahayana Buddhism, Mahamayuri is believed to have the power to protect devotees from poisoning, either physical or spiritual. In Buddhism, her demeanor is in contrast to the wrathful attitudes of male personifications of the Wisdom Kings. The Mahamayuri text is a Buddhist dharani-genre text, containing magical incantations to treat snake bites, poisons and other maladies.
  Mahamayuri's dharani was translated into Chinese by Kumārajīva between 402 and 412 CE. It contains the only mention of the Rig Veda in the entire Chinese Buddhist canon.
context_section_description: Despite being associated with the Wisdom Kings, Mahāmāyūrī tends to be portrayed with a benevolent expression rather than a wrathful one. She has three faces and six hands.
  She is portrayed riding a top a peacock and commonly sporting four arms. Although the items she holds varies among traditions, common items include a citron, bael fruit, lotus flower and a peacock tail feather. With the moon as a backrest, wearing peaceful ornaments and garments. Seated in the half (vajrasana) posture.
caption: Mahamayuri statue in the Musée Guimet
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