ORIGIN: Buddhist [India]
TYPE: Bodhisattva or buddha-designate, also god of wisdom.
KNOWN PERIOD OF WORSHIP: Circa 500 BCE until present
SYNONYMS: Large numbers of forms.
CENTER(S) OF CULT: pan-Asiatic
ART REFERENCES: metal and stone sculptures, paintings.
LITERARY SOURCES: Sadhanamala and Tantric ritual texts.
INFORMATION: An important and popular deity throughout all sects of Buddhism. He is the son of either Amitabha or Aksobhya and is closely linked with the goddess Prajnaparamita who is seen as the personification of a holy texts which Manjusri habitually carries, the pustaka. His attendant animal is the tiger of the lion.
COLOR: Black, white, red or yellow.
ATTRIBUTES: Chiefly book and sword, but also arrow, blue lotus and bow. May be three-headed.