Mañjuśrī as Ādibuddha: The Identity of an Eight-armed Form of Mañjuśrī Found in Early Western Himalayan Buddhist Art in the Light of Three Nāmasaṃgīti-Related Texts

Abstract

In this article I suggest that an eight-armed Mañjuśrī found in early Western Himalayan Art be identified not as the bodhisattva Mañjuśrī but as the Ādibud-dha.1 This figure is distinctive in that it holds four swords, one in each of its four righthands,andfourbookvolumes,oneineachof itsfourlefthands.Previously identified as a form of Dharmadhātuvāgīśvara Mañjuśrī,2 this image is found in three locations in the Western Himalayas. Two of these are in Ladakh: one at Alchi in the Sumtsek (Gsum-brtsegs, “Three-Storeyed”) Temple; the other at Mangyu, where there are two images, the first in the Two-armed Maitreya Chapel, the second in the Village Stūpa.3 These three images are murals. The third location is in Spiti, where there is a clay sculpture in the Golden Temple or Serkhang (Gser-khang) at Lalung.4