Ask the Scholar

This Buddhist deity holds a bell, symbolic of wisdom, and a flaming wheel, symbolic of the Buddhist teachings. His crown, which terminates in a "vajra"—the multipronged ritual scepter of the tantric Buddhist traditions—resembles the type of headdress worn by Nepali images of the deity Vajrasattva. Identified as both a primordial Buddha and a bodhisattva, Vajrasattva often plays a role in purification rituals. However, since Vajrasattva holds a vajra and bell, the identity of this wheel-bearing deity remains uncertain.The seated deity is cast from almost pure copper, visible in areas where the thick gilding has worn away. The hollow figure is sealed with a small, rectangluar copper panel incised with the protective "vajra," or thunderbolt symbol, on its underside, and x-radiography reveals a hollow compartment that may hold sacred scrolls within.