Nepali Vajravarahi Gold-plated Copper Buddhist Statue

Master Nepali craftsman created this wonderful gold-plated copper Vajravarahi statue. Her ears have inlaid turquoise. Vajravarahi is a wrathful form of Vajrayogini (associated particularly with the Cakrasamvara Tantra) with more prominent fangs, a more wrathful expression, and she prominently displays a sow's head above her right ear. Vajravarahi is one of the most popular female Tantric deities in all traditions of Tibetan Buddhism.

Although there are several forms, the basic iconography is that she has one face, (usually) two hands and two legs, is usually red in color, and standing in a dancing posture on a human corpse. The distinguishing iconographic attribute is a sow's head placed either on the right side of her head or on the top of her head.

Because of this sow's head, sometimes she is called the "two-faced" Vajrayogini.

---