page_title: Vajra
hierarchical_section_title: Vajra
caption_attribution_description: English: Mahakala, Protector of the Tent, Central Tibet. Distemper on cloth, 64 x 53 in. (162.6 x 134.6 cm). Mahakala is one of the most popular guardians in the Tibetan Buddhist pantheon. Here he tramples a corpse while wielding a flaying knife and a blood-filled skull cup, signifying the destruction of impediments to enlightenment. In the crooks of his elbows he supports a gandi gong, a symbol of his vow to protect the community of monks (sangha). His principal companions, Palden Remati and Palden Lhamo, appear to his left, and Legden Nagpo and Bhutadamara are at his right. At lower left is Brahmarupa blowing a thighbone trumpet. He is especially revered by the Sakya order, which commissioned this work. This tangka, one of the earliest and grandest of this subject, can be related to murals preserved in the fifteenth-century Kumbum at Gyantse monastery, central Tibet, likely painted under Newari direction.
context_page_description: A vajra is a ritual weapon symbolizing the properties of a diamond and a thunderbolt and is the Sanskrit word having both meanings.
  The vajra is a type of club with a ribbed spherical head. The ribs may meet in a ball-shaped top, or they may be separate and end in sharp points with which to stab. The vajra is the weapon of the Indian Vedic rain and thunder-deity Indra, and is used symbolically by the dharma traditions of Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism, often to represent firmness of spirit and spiritual power.
  According to the Indian mythology, vajra is considered as one of the most powerful weapons in the universe. The use of the vajra as a symbolic and ritual tool spread from the Hindu religion to other religions in India and other parts of Asia.
context_section_description: A vajra (or dorje in Tibetan) is a ritual weapon symbolizing the properties of a diamond (indestructibility) and a thunderbolt (irresistible force) and is the Sanskrit word having both meanings.
  The vajra is a type of club with a ribbed spherical head. The ribs may meet in a ball-shaped top, or they may be separate and end in sharp points with which to stab. The vajra is the weapon of the Indian Vedic rain and thunder-deity Indra, and is used symbolically by the dharma traditions of Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism, often to represent firmness of spirit and spiritual power. 
  According to the Indian mythology, vajra is considered as one of the most powerful weapons in the universe. The use of the vajra as a symbolic and ritual tool spread from the Hindu religion to other religions in India and other parts of Asia.
caption: Mahakala holding vajra weapon
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