HEVAJRA. The term Hevajra is a name of the central male deity of the maṇḍala described in the text of that name, the Hevajra Tantra. The image of Hevajra, which was relatively common in Indian Buddhist art from the tenth century onward, is that of a yogin. Dark blue in color, he is depicted naked yet covered with numerous ornaments, most noticeably a skull garland, skull staff (khaṭvāṇga), ritual scepter (vajra), and bell, and with his dreadlocks tied up in the impressive crest preferred by Indian renunciant yogins. An idealized image of a yogin, it is naturally the case that the tradition that gave rise to these images, and also the associated textual and ritual practices, originated among the communities of renunciants, who constituted what might be termed the "siddha movement" and who from the eighth century onward were an important influence on the development...