Tibetan Tantric Buddhist temple painting (detail), showing Yama, Lord of the Dead

This detail from a Tibetan Buddhist temple painting depicts Yama, Lord of the Dead. He is one of several deities and other figures shown around a central image of the Medicine Buddha.

Yama is shown as a blue, bovine deity, riding his buffalo and wielding a skull-and-backbone staff, an emblem of death. He wears a crown of skulls, indicating his divine status, and a belt of severed heads. Yama is both the power of death and judge of the dead.

Tibetan Tantric Buddhism involves lengthy meditation on temple paintings, which are full of complex symbolism. Through this worshippers gain insights into the principles and approaches of Buddhism.

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