Statue of Vajra Sarasvati or Magzor Gyalmo, ‘Queen of the Weapon Army’, an enlightened protector deity in Lamaism. She is a fierce form of the Hindu goddess Sarasvati, who in Mahayana Buddhism regarded as the goddess of education, music and poetry, and the consort of Manjushri, known in China as Wen Shu (fig.). She is portrayed with a dark blue complexion, one face and two hands, holding aloft a scepter in one hand and a kapala, i.e. a cup made from a human skull (fig.), in the other.

In this ferocious form, she is portrayed with a dark blue complexion, one face and two hands, and holding aloft a stick in one hand and a kapala, i.e. a cup made from a human skull, in the other. She wears a necklace of severed human heads and is riding a donkey.