| Manjushri ("Of pleasing splendor," "Charming Beauty") is | | | | green valley surrounded by mountains and boulders. |
| the Bodhisattva of Wisdom and knowledge (prajna). | | | | Aside from the deities, the only living beings are pairs |
| He is sitting in the middle of the thangka on a red lotus | | | | of deer and birds, Chinese symbols for longevity. The |
| that rises up above the water. In his right hand a | | | | landscape also has meaning. According to legend, |
| sword. His left hand is in vitarkamudra, the gesture of | | | | Manjushri came to Nepal from China over 2,000 years |
| giving instruction, while a book is lying on the lotus | | | | ago to worship the Adi Buddha. Surrounded by |
| flower beside his left shoulder. Lower left and right, the | | | | mountains, in the middle of the country, lay a large lake. |
| White and Green Taras; top left and right, | | | | In the middle of the lake bloomed a lotus on which the |
| Avalokiteshvara as shadakashari and | | | | Adi Buddha, Svayambhu (the "Self-Creating One"), |
| Padmasambhava. At the top, in the center sits the | | | | manifested himself as a flame. |
| historical Buddha. | | | | The bodhisattva smote the rocks with his sword near |
| Manjushri is closely associated with the goddess | | | | Chobar so that the water flowed away and the valley |
| prajnaparamita, who is not his partner, but the | | | | was able to be cultivated. The present day |
| personification of knowledge, symbolized by the book | | | | Kathmandu Valley lies at the location of the former |
| on the lotus. A book is always rendered as a | | | | lake, as has been revealed geologically. He moved the |
| rectangular packet – a pile of sheets that lies | | | | lotus with the flame to a hill on the west side. Later, the |
| between two flat, wooden lids. Before the 12th | | | | stupa of Svayambhunath was erected over it. |
| century, these were made of palm leaf, later, of the | | | | Manjushri is depicted in red, yellow, golden yellow, white, |
| Hindu god Brahma, who is also depicted with a book | | | | or black and almost always sits in lotus position. He is |
| (the Vedas). | | | | eternally young and muscular, and has some twenty |
| With his flaming sword, Manjushri ensures that humans | | | | variations. |
| will gain knowledge and insight. He cleaves the clouds | | | | Manjushri is referred to as an emanation of both the |
| of ignorance with it, but also uses it in the morning to | | | | dhyani Buddha Amitabha, who is also |
| chase away the demons of the night, and so brings | | | | Avalokiteshvara's spiritual father, and of Akshobhya. |
| light into the darkness. This darkness has a double | | | | This dual origin can be traced back to the fierce form |
| meaning, and is thus also spiritual darkness, ignorance. | | | | of Akahobhya, the dharmapala Yamantaka, who can |
| Somebody or something's right side is the male side, | | | | take on a fiercer guise, namely Vajrabhairva, and then |
| the left side is female. Waving a sword around is a | | | | be an extremely frightening guise of Manjushri. An |
| male-related action, whereas wisdom, as was | | | | earthly incarnation of Manjushri is the great reformer |
| mentioned earlier, is female, and so is placed on the | | | | Tssongkhpa, the founder of the Gelugpa monastic |
| left. | | | | order. |
| The entire background of the thangka portrays a | | | | |