A painted and lacquered Cham mask from Tibet representing the face of Yamantaka, the terminator of death. According to a popular myth, the bodhisattva Manjushri (fig.) adapted this ferocious form in order to conquer Yama, the Vedic god of death, when the latter in a fury (fig.) threatened to wipe out the entire population of Tibet. In this fierce manifestation, Manjushri defeated Yama and then turned him into a protector of Buddhism, and thus saved the people.