Rakta Yamari, a Wrathful Form of Manjushri

The central figure of this thangka is most likely Rakta Yamari. Rakta Yamari is a meditational deity and a wrathful form of Manjushri. Wrathful deities in Tibetan or Tantric (Vajrayana) Buddhism are beings who take on fierce forms to combat obstructions along the path to enlightenment. In this form, Rakta Yamari has three faces and six arms, as well as a pair of wings; however, his most striking feature is the ritual peg or three-sided dagger (Tib: phurba; Skt: kila) that forms the lower part of his body. The peg is a ritual tool used symbolically to pin down ignorance and other negative qualities, here represented by the corpses pinned beneath the central deity. Not all depictions of Rakta Yamari have the peg body; this style emerged uniquely in Tibet.