In Tibetan and Japanese Buddhism, Hayagrīva is an important deity who originated as a yaksha attendant of AvalokiteśvaraorGuanyin Bodhisattva in India. Appearing in the Vedas as two separate deities, he was assimilated into the ritual worship of early Buddhism and eventually was identified as a Wisdom King in Vajrayana Buddhism. In Tibet, Hayagriva was promoted especially by Buddhist teacherAtiśa and appeared as a worldly dharmapala. His special ability is to cure diseases, especially skin diseases even as serious as leprosy, which is said to be caused by nāgas. In Japanese Mahayana Buddhism, Hayagriva is considered a form of Avalokiteśvara with wrathful form , one of the six Avalokiteśvaras intended to save the sentient beings of the six realms: deities, demons, human beings, animals, hungry ghosts, beings of hell. Hayagriva's sphere is realm of animals. In Folk religion in Japan, Hyagriva was also worshipped as the guardian deity for horses because of its name Horse-head. The horse was symbolized as a vehicle, not as one of Hayagriva's heads. In Chinese Buddhism and folk tradition, Hayagriva was sometimes assimilated into Horse-Face, one of two theriomorphic guardians of Diyu, the underworld. Some Chinese horse owners also worship Hayagriva in a non underworld form to protect their horses.
Buddhist iconography
In his simplest form Hayagriva is depicted with one face, two arms and two legs, and a horse head above his head. Everything about him is wrathful - a scowling face with three glaring eyes, a roaring mouth with protruding fangs, a pose of warrior’s aggressiveness, a broad belly bulging with inner energy, a sword raised threateningly in his right hand, his left hand raised in a threatening gesture and snake ornaments. This terrifying aspect expresses compassion’s fierce determination to help us overcome inner egotism and outer obstructions. In other representations, Hayagriva has six hands, four or eight legs and three large eyes. in these versions, on the top of Hayagriva’s head are three small green horse heads. The legs stand on two corpses, symbolizing the mundane attachments that should be destroyed.
