Vajrayana Room
The Vajrayana Gallery showcases tantric art and iconography first appeared in India in the 6th century and are related primarily to the Kriya and Carya Tantras with a focus on external practices such as rituals, mantra recitation and the veneration of enshrined images of the buddha and bodhisattvas. A number of unique elements in buddhist iconography characterises what is tantra. These include the use of sacred gestures (mudras), sacred diagrams (mandalas), esoteric yogic positions, a common sight of female deities and even the use of sexual symbolism. These should not be misconstrued as cult practices, but are skilful means within Vajrayana to illustrate non-dualism and the state of awareness. By deliberately and outrightly expressing the unity of dualism, in the form of sun and moon, left and right, god and goddesses, male-female union, tantric practices and iconography bring out in a practitioner the ultimate non-dual state. Some of these unique features are explained. Click on each of the images to read about their description.
