Abstract
Iconographic imagery in the Indo‐Tibetan Buddhist Tantric (i.e., Vajrayāna) tradition is replete with polymorphic symbolic forms. Tantric texts themselves are multivalent, addressing astronomy, astrology, cosmology, history, embryology, physiology, pharmacology, alchemy, botany, philosophy, and sexuality. The Sr? Kaālacakra, a medieval Indo‐Tibetan manuscript of great import, de‐scribes ritual visualization sequences in whichpractitioners visualize elaborate manidialadesigns and deified yab‐yum (father‐mother) consort couples. The Kālacakra system is the preeminent conduit for the globalization of Tibetan Buddhism, and contemporary enactments of its initiation ceremony incorporate a variety of aesthetic genres, including sand manidiala construction and ritual dance.
Keywords
melothesia, Tantra, manidiala, Vajrayāna, homology, Madhyamika, yab‐yum
How to Cite
Andresen, J., (2000) “Vajrayāna Art and Iconography”, Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science 35(2), 357–370. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/0591-2385.00281