A 19th Century finely cast detailed rendering in hand-chased and cold-painted bronze, representing Vajrapani, holder of the thunderbolt scepter symbolizing the absolute transforming power of enlightenment. He crushes beneath his feet all delusion, represented here by snakes, or nagas, under his feet. He wears a girdle of freshly severed heads, a serpent necklace and a loincloth made from the skin of a tiger; bone necklaces, armbands and anklets representing the paramitas of charity, morality and action. The five-skull crown with each of the five skulls surmounted by a gold-encased jewel represents the “death” of the five poisons and the dissolution of the five aggregates of the personality. Vajrapani’s blue-black hair standing on end accentuates the wrathful expression of his knitted brows beneath the third eye. The statue is supported on a lotus base and is lit with patches of gold.