Sakya Pandita Kunga Gyaltsen
Central Tibet; 18th century
Pigments on cloth
Rubin Museum of Art
C2006.66.23 (HAR 695)

One of Tibet’s greatest scholars, Sakya Pandita, was considered an emanation of Manjushri, the Bodhisattva of Wisdom, on Earth. Sakya Pandita stayed at Wutaishan for some time during his trip to the Mongol court in the thirteenth century. At Wutaishan he wrote many famous letters and prayers that extolled the virtues of Manjushri and the mountain which he sent back to Tibet, helping to promote Tibetan interest in the pilgrimage site.

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