Marici
Marici is a Buddhist and Taoist deity, a female bodhisattva, and a guardian deity associated with the Sun, light, or dawn. Marici is revered as a benevolent divinity who can drive out evil spirits, difficulties, and influences. She is depicted in various forms. In her most common iconography, she is depicted with a yellow complexion, three faces, and eight hands. She is sometimes depicted in white and red skin with one to six faces, seated on a boar or a horse or riding a chariot driven by seven wild boars or seven blazing horses. Due to her iconography and significance, her origins link her to the Vedic deities Usha and Surya. The majority of Buddhist practitioners around the world, especially those who practice Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism, recognize and worship her.
Other Forms
Following are forms of Marici mentioned in Drub Tab Gyatsa:
(Reference: www.himalayanart.org)
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Ashokanta Marichi: She sits on top of a lotus and a moon on the back of a yellow boar. She has a yellow complexion, one face, and two hands. The right hand is in Varada mudra while the left hand is holding a branch of the Ashoka tree.
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Oddiyana Marichi: She had a red complexion, brown bristling hair, six faces, and twelve hands. The primary face is red, with two right faces that are blue and black, two left faces that are white and black, and a black boar face on top. Each has three eyes and fangs. A sword, vishvavajra, one-pronged vajra, axe, arrow, and pestle are held by the right hands, while the left six hands display a wrathful gesture with a needle and hold a trident, Ashoka tree branch, bow, lasso, and Brahma's head. She wears a tiger skin and a garland of human heads.
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Kalpoktam Marichi: It is her most common iconography, where she is depicted with a yellow complexion, three faces, and eight hands. The primary face is yellow, the right face is red, and the left face, which is of a boar, is blue. There are three eyes on each face. The four right hands are holding a vajra, a hook, an arrow, and a needle. The four on the left are holding an Ashoka tree branch, a bow, a thread, and one hand in a wrathful gesture.
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Kalpoktam Vidhina Sita Marichi: She has a white skin tone, five faces, ten hands, and four legs. The primary face is white, the right is black, the left is a red pig face, the back is green, and the top is yellow. A sun disc, a blue vajra, an arrow, a hook, and a needle are held in the five right hands. The five left a moon disc, a bow, an ashoka tree limb, a wrathful gesture, and a lasso and a thread. Jewels and a garland of little bells adorn the dress. She stands above Vishnu, Shiva, Indra, and Brahma, atop a chariot carried by seven pigs.
