SUMMARY | PHOTO GALLERY | NEXT | PREVIOUS | | LEXICON

TRADITIONS & UTENSILS

 

 

 

  vajra axe

 

China

A Tibetan brass vajra axe from the Qing Dynasty on display at the Shanghai Museum. It was once used by Buddhist priests in religious rites in Vajrayana Buddhism to symbolically destroy any obstacles that obstruct the path towards Enlightenment. In iconography, it is an attribute wielded by certain wrathful deities as a likewise weapon.