Medium : Mineral pigment on cotton canvas
Artist : Puran Shakya
The Vajradhatu Mandala is the mandala of the Diamond Realm. In Vajrayana Buddhism, the Diamond Realm is a metaphysical space inhabited by the five wisdom Buddhas.
This mandala conveys Vairochana Buddha’s Sambhogakaya (body of perfect rapture). It is characterized by radiance and shunyata (emptiness) a condition that can be specifically perceptible only to advanced Bodhisattvas.
Vairochan is the Buddha placed in the center and portrayed with one pair of hands at the chest holding the gesture of reverence (anjali mudra), and another pair turned upward in meditative gesture (dhyana mudra). Vairochana holds a bow and arrow, a rosary, and a wheel in the other hands.
The mandala is framed by the rest of the cosmic Buddhas (tathagatas) at the center of adjacent circles. The ritual thunderbolt (vajra) Akshobhya in the east, the gem (ratna), Ratnasambhava to the south, the lotus (padma) Amitabha to the west, and the crossed vajra (vishvavajra) Amoghasiddhi to the north.
