Vajrabhairava (Adamantine Anger), also known as Yamantaka (Conqueror of Death), is the wrathful manifestation of Manjushri, the Bodhisattva of Wisdom. He is a meditational deity (yidam) in the Anuttara Yoga classification of Tantric Vajrayana Buddhism, which was practiced in the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism founded by Tsongkhapa (1357–1419). Vajrabhairava, is depicted here as a single figure in the form known as the "Lone Hero." He is also often shown in union with his consort Vajra Vetali (Adamantine Zombie), also known in Tibetan as Dorje Rolangma (Adamantine Zombie).
Vajrabhairava is represented in multiple iconographic forms. Here, he is dark blue in color and has a flaming nimbus and a flaming aureola (prabhavali). He has nine heads, eight of which are fierce. The primary head is a buffalo symbolic of Vajrabhairava's role as the destroyer of death. His uppermost placid head is Manjushri. His thirty-four arms hold assorted weapons and attributes. His principal hands hold a flaying knife (kartrika) and a skullcup (kapala). The practitioner must visualize each ritual object and its specific Tantric symbolism. He has sixteen legs, stands in the militant posture (alidha asana), and is trampling eight Hindu deities, eight mammals, and eight birds on a lotus base. He wears silver ornaments said to be made from human bones, a poisonous serpent around his neck, and a garland of fifty-one freshly severed human heads. An elephant skin is typically draped across his back. The metal traveling case has a border adorned with the Eight Auspicious Symbols of Buddhism: lotus, endless knot, golden fishes, parasol, victory banner, treasure vase, white conch shell, and the Buddhist Wheel of the Law (Dharma Chakra), as well as dragons, precious gems, and wave forms.
See also M.76.143 and M.77.19.8.