What is Yamantaka ?

Yamantaka is the conqueror og the Death (Yama). He is the ferocious emanation on Manjushree. Under this form he conquered the demon king of Death (Yama). The simplest form of Yamantaka has one bull head and two arms, he has a crown of skulls and the third eye. In his right hand is a chopper and left skull cup. He has a belt of heads and steps to te right. In painting he is represented with siteen feet, thirtyfour arms holding all te Tantra symbols and nine heads. This form shows Yamantaka as Vajrabhairava, the terrific form of Bodhisattva Manjushri Bodhisattva Manjushri´s head appears at the top of Yamantaka´s stack of nine heads. With his other eight faces, sixteen legs, and thirty arms, he expresses the many facets of his inconceivable enlightenment, and manifests a power far greater than Yama. Thus overwhelming Yama, he stops his killing activity and becomes the terminator of Death (yam-antaka).

An ancient Hindu god of death, Yama plays a more expanded role in the Tibetan pantheon and has different iconography. Apart of beeing the Lord of the Death , he is also the King of Religion. Furthermore, Yama is one of the eight Dharmapalas in Tibetan Buddhism; hence , he is always shown in a terrifying posture.

The Hindu Yama simply rides a buffalo, but his Buddhist counterpart has the head of a buffalo and rides a blue bull. In fact, the iconography of the Buddhist Yama is far more macabre than that of is Hindu counterpart, who is generally portrayed as a placid, regal figure. When accompanied by his sister Yami, Yam is known as Minister of the Exterior.

In Buddhist Myth, Manjushri has brought this most fearsome god under control as aDharma protector (Dharmapala) and as such he is a major protector deity in Tibetan Buddhist practice. He is especially important for th Gelugpas, because of Tsong Khapa´s special association with Manjushri, the Conqueror of Yama.