Vajravarahi: Tantric Female Deity (1000s–1100s CE)

This exquisite miniature stone stele depicts Vajravarahi, a powerful dancing Tantric Buddhist female deity. Dating to the 1000s–1100s in Nepal, the sculpture captures her in a dynamic, ecstatic pose symbolizing the transformative energy of Vajrayana Buddhism. It is a portable devotional object that offers insight into personal tantric practices. Today, it is held by the Cleveland Museum of Art.

The stele was created in Nepal during the 11th–12th centuries, a golden era for tantric Buddhism (Vajrayana) in the Kathmandu Valley among the Newar people. This period followed the Licchavi era and featured strong influences from Indian tantric traditions, including texts such as the Hevajra Tantra and Chakrasamvara Tantra. Vajrayana originated in India around the 7th–8th centuries, spreading to Nepal, Tibet, and the Himalayas through esoteric teachings, initiations, and rituals. Small steles like this one were commonly produced as personal cult objects or amulets for meditation and daily worship, reflecting the dominance of tantric practices that blended Buddhist and Hindu elements in Newar society.

Objects of this type were often carried or kept close by practitioners as protective amulets or aids for private meditation. Devotees might have visualized themselves merging with Vajravarahi during rituals, invoking her fierce yet blissful energy to confront and uproot inner obstacles—personal stories of spiritual transformation that were kept within the esoteric tradition.

Vajravarahi (“Diamond Sow”) is a supreme female Buddha in tantric Buddhism, embodying indestructible wisdom (prajna) that uproots ego, ignorance, and desire—much as a sow uproots plants from the soil. She is frequently shown with a sow’s head emerging behind or above her own, a unique feature distinguishing her from similar deities like Vajrayogini. As the consort of Chakrasamvara or Hayagriva, she represents the union of wisdom and skillful method, serving as the root of all dakinis (female wisdom beings). Her dancing posture, often ardhaparyanka with one leg raised, symbolizes dynamic activity, joy, passion, and victory over ego; she dances upon a prostrate human figure representing defeated demons or the uprooted ego. This “ferociously blissful” form illustrates tantra’s core principle: transforming passion, anger, and ignorance into enlightenment rather than suppressing them. In Newar culture of the Kathmandu Valley, Vajravarahi was central to tantric rituals, and small images like this supported personal devotion and protection. She remains revered today in Tibetan and Himalayan Buddhism for accelerating enlightenment through advanced practices requiring guru initiation.

The stele is crafted from a stone-like material, possibly kaolin (a fine clay). It measures 9.6 cm high by 5.3 cm wide (3 ¾ × 2 1/16 in.), making it highly portable. Vajravarahi is depicted nude or minimally adorned with bone ornaments, standing in a dancing pose with one leg lifted. In her right hand she holds a curved knife (kartika) to sever mental obstacles; in her left, a skull cup (kapala) filled with blood or nectar symbolizing transformed negativity. A khatvanga staff (adorned with skulls) rests against her shoulder, representing her male consort. Flames of wisdom often surround her, emphasizing her enlightened fury and ecstasy.

The early history of the stele is unknown. It was owned by Claude De Marteau in Brussels, Belgium, until 1966, when he donated it to the Cleveland Museum of Art. It has remained in the museum’s collection ever since.