THE GUARDIAN KINGS, according to Buddhist belief, guard the four quarters of the world and protect the Buddhist law. They are said to live on the mythical Mount MERU, at the gates of the paradise of INDRA, the protector of Buddhism. The Guardian Kings are acolytes of the BODHISATTVA AVALOKITESHVARA. Originally, they were regarded as benevolent, but they developed into menacing warriors. They are usually shown wearing armor and helmets or crowns. The kings are said to have assisted at the birth of GAUTAMA BUDDHA and to have held up the hooves of his horse when he left the palace of his father for the outside world. In Indian art, they are usually shown riding elephants, whereas in Tantrism they are often shown trampling demons.
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HANUMAN
is the monkey god of Hindu mythology. He is regarded as the patron of learning and is the son of VAYU, god of the winds. According to one myth, Hanuman once tried to snatch the sun from the sky, thinking it was something to eat. To prevent the catastrophe, the war god INDRA threw his thunderbolt at the monkey, smashing his jaw. In the great Hindu epic the Ramayana, Hanuman is the minister of the monkey king Sugriva and the loyal companion of RAMA, the famous AVATAR or incarnation of VISHANU, the preserve of the universe. Hanuman assisted Rama when the hero was locked in battle with the demon king RAVANA, who had run off with Rama’s wife, SITA. It was Hanuman who discovered Sita’s whereabouts, on the island of LANKA, Ramvan’s kingdom.
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HEVAJRA is a YIDAM, or tutelary god, worshipped in Mongolia, Cambodia, Thailand and Tibet, He is usually represented with four legs and eight heads; his body is blue, and his heads are different colors. He is sometimes shown alone, but often in Yab-Yum, the posture of embrace, with his SHAKTI or corresponding female energy.
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INDRA one of the chief deities of Indian mythology, is a god of storms and war. He appears in the Rig-Veda – the ancient hymns forming part of the Veda, the sacred knowledge of Hinduism – as the king of the gods. Indra is red or gold in color, and is large, fierce and warlike. In his right had he carries a thunderbolt, which he uses either to slay his enemies or to revive those killed in battle. He is said to ride through the heavens in a chariot, often said to be the sun. In later times, he was frequently depicted on the elephant, AIRAVATA.
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KALI the “Black One”, is the terrifying aspect of the great mother goddess and SHAKTI of SHIVA. The personification of death and destruction, she is said to spring from the forehead of DURGA, another aspect of the goddess, when she becomes angry. Kali is usually depicted with blood-red eyes, four arms and with her tongue lolling out of her mouth in search of blood. She is naked, but for a girdle of severed heads or hands, a necklace of skulls sand a tiger skin. Like Shiva, Kali has a third eye in her forehead. In one hand she holds a weapon, in another the severed head of a giant, while her remaining two hand, in contrast, are raised in blessing. Her devotees regard her as loving mother goddess who can destroy death as well as demons.
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KRISHNA According to Hindu mythology, is an AVATAR of VISHNU, the preserver of the universe. He is traditionally referred to as the only complete avatar. A divine hero, krishna is said to have been miraculously born in the town of Mathura in northern India. The gods wanted to destroy the evil oppressor King Kamsa, and so Vishnu decided to be born as the eighth son of the king’s sister Devaki. According to none story, Vishnu plucked out two of his hairs, one black, one white. The black hair became Krishna and the white hair BALARAMA, Krishna’s older brother. Krishna’s name means the “Dark One”.
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NAGAS, according to Hindu belief, are semi-divine but powerful serpents that guard the treasures of the earth. They are often associated with fertility but can occasionally prove dangerous. Whereas some nagas are depicted with several heads, others are represented as human beings. The naga Vasuki was used as a rope in the myth of the churning of the ocean and was afterwards worn by SHIVA as a girdle that had the power to dispel demons. When the great god VISHNU is resting, he sleeps on the naga known as Sesha, or Ananta. Seshas’s hoods shade the god, but his yawns cause earthquakes.
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THE MOTHER GODDESS
DEVI, OR MAHADEVI (“THE GREAT GODDESS”), is a composite figure who includes various aspects of the female deity in a series of contrasting incarnations. In the earliest Indian cultures, the mother goddess was Shakti, the source of all energy in the universe, the creative force who brought fertility to the earth. Some of her manifestations were associated with natural forces, such as Ushas, the dawn, and Ganga, the river. Later she was subsumed in the patriarchal Hindu creation myth as the on sort of Shiva. In this role she continued to appear in a variety of incarnations. Some were benign, such as Sati and Parvati, both of whom were loving and caring, but others were terrifying, such as the warrior goddesses Durga and Kali. Although she lost her autonomy in her new role as consort, she was still the creative force. While Shiva embodied potency, Shakti was the energy needed to release his power.
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SHAKTI
means “Force”, “Power” or “Energy”. In Buddhism, shaktis, who are female, embody the active energy of the male deities with whom they are often shown in a sexual embrace known as Yab-Yum. The five main shaktis correspond to the five male DHYANIBUDDHAS or the “Great Buddha of Wisdom”: Vajradharisvari corresponds to RATNASAMBHAVA, Pandara corresponds to AMITABHA and Tara to AMOGHASIDDHI. When in Yab-Yum, these shaktis may hold a cup made from a skull.   In Hinduism, Shakti is regarded as the creative force of SHIVA and is worshipped under many names, including PARVATI, Uma, DURGA and KALI. Shaktism is an aspect of Tantrism. Shakras worship Shakti and revere her as the life force and the energy that maintains the universe. As a means towards experiencing the supreme really. Shaktas use sexual practices, including those shown in the Kamasutra, the manual of erotic art. However, in some sects, these practices are meditated upon rather than actually performed.
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DHYANIBUDDHAS, the Mandalas, Aksobhya
FIVE GREAT MYSTIC BUDDHAS appear together in the “Mandala of the Five Jinas”, and are therefore known collectively as Dhyanibuddhas, or “Meditation Buddhas”. They are said to have arisen from the Adibuddha, or “Primeval Buddha”. Jinas, or spiritual conquerors, are those who have overcome the perpetual cycle of rebirth and human suffering. As subjects for meditation, they each represent a different aspect of the enlightened consciousness. Mandala is the Sanskrit word for a circle: a mandala is both a symbolic picture of the universe and as aid to meditation, helping the onlooker to achieve different states of mind. For ritual purposes, the mandala is traced on the ground using colored powers, which are brushed, away afterwards. It may also be a picture of a three-dimensional object, such as a sculpture or even a building. Mandalas can also be visualized during meditation-they do not have exist physically.
AKSOBHYA, the “Immovable”, was a monk who took an oath that he would never again feel anger or revulsion. His adherence to his vow eventually resulted in his attainment of enlightenment. He is the Buddha of the eastern paradise, Abhirati, where the virtuous are reborn into a land without evil or suffering and where they can quickly achieve nirvana. He touches the earth with his hand to symbolize his enlightenment. 
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SHIVA
is one of the principal Hindu deities who, together with VISHNU and BRAHMA, forms the Trimurti, or triad of great gods. He is believed to have developed from RUDRA, a minor deity who appears in the Rig-Veda, the collection of ancient Hindu hymns dating from between 1500 and 900 BC. It seems that the god grew in stature after absorbing some of the characteristics of an ancient fertility god sometimes referred to as “proto-Shiva”. Representations of this god, sitting in the position of a yogi and associated with animals and plants, have been ascribed to the Indus Valley culture, which dates from before 1500 BC. Shiva can be kind and protective, but he is also terrifying and is found in such places as battlefields and cremation grounds. He is offer shown decorated with a string of skulls. Although he is a god of creation, he is also the god of time and thus the great destroyer. He is a fertility god, but his also as ascetic who has conquered his desires and lives on Mount Kailasa in the high Himalayas, deep in the meditation which deeps the word in existence.
Although Shiva brings death, he also conquers death as well as disease and is invoked to cure sickness. He is sometimes depicted as half-male, half-female. The conflicting qualities and attributes found within the god are intended to symbolize a deity within whom all opposites are reconciled. Even Shiva’s nave, which means “Auspicious”, is intended to reconcile and propitiate the dark aspect of his character, which caused him to be known as the “destroyer”.
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TARA  
is one of Tibetan Buddhism’s most popular deities. Her name means both “She Who Delivers” and “Star”. She is regarded as an emanation of the BODHISATTVA AVALOKITESHVARA and is said to have been born from a lotus floating in one of his tears in order to help him in his work. According to another account, Tara was born in a beam of blue light, which shone from one of Avalokiteshvara’s eyes. She embodies the feminine aspect of compassion and incorporates the essence of the goddess. As a result, her name is sometimes applied to other female deities.
The earliest representations of the goddess date from the sixth century AD, when Tara came to be regarded as the SHAKTI, or sometimes the wife, of Avalokiteshvara. In Tibet, where her cult spread widely in the 11^th century, it was said that the goddess was reincarnated in every virtuous woman. Since then she has been worshipped widely as a personal deity. There are 21 different forms of Tara, each of which has its own color, posture and attributes, and they all can appear to be either peaceful or wrathful.
The most common forms are Green Tara and White Tara. In Tibet, the White Tara is often said to be a form of the Green Tara. She is believed to be a form of SARASVATI, the wife of BRAHMA. The Green Tara, said to be the original Tara, holds a blue lotus in each hand to signify her compassion. The consorts of the seventh-century Tibetan king Songtsen Gampo are said to have been embodiments of these two Taras. When red, yellow or blue, Tara is said to be in a menacing mood, whereas when green or white she is said to be gentle and loving. Tibetan Buddhists believe that their ancestors are Avalokiteshvara in the form of a monkey and Tara in the form of a rock ogress.
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VISHNU is one of the most important gods of Hinduism and the most widely worshipped Together with SHIVA and BRAHMA, he belongs to the triad of great gods known as the Trimurit. The preserver of the world, Vishnu is majestic and at times terrifying. One the whole, however he is a benevolent deity and far less frightening than Shiva. Vishnu’s devotees, the Vaishnavas, regard him as the supreme god: one of his many epithets is the “Highest God”. Brahman, the Hindu concept of the “Absolute” or supreme reality, is sometimes depicted as Vishnu.
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