The Hidden Sky-Flying Goddess of Patan’s Mahaboudha Temple

The Flying Vajrayogini or Akāśa Vajrayogini of Mahaboudha is one of the most intriguing spiritual treasures in Nepal, known to few people. It is buried in the brick-paved streets of Patan, Nepal, amid the noise of traffic and crowds.

A majority of the people who visit the city are astonished by the terracotta exterior of Mahaboudha Temple, which is renowned worldwide for its thousand small, hand-carved Buddhas on the walls. And few are aware that in this quiet courtyard of the Newars, there is a sacrificial tantric shrine devoted to her, the Sky-Flying Goddess. This deity represents the pinnacle of Tantric Buddhist realization, where wisdom and method, compassion and insight, and the realms of earth and sky are united. Her active flying does not merely symbolize itself, but in addition demonstrates the freedom of the enlightened mind, as it transcends all the boundaries of thought and perception.

The Flying Vajrayogini and Mahaboudha depict a profound reality of the living Buddhist culture in the Kathmandu Valley: that it is a location where monastic piety and esoteric tantric knowledge are in a state of coexistence and harmony, where the meditative serenity of a thousand Buddhas is in contrast to the energizing power of a goddess that flies in the sky.

Overview: Mahaboudha Temple in Patan

Before encountering the deity, we must step inside a courtyard. The Mahaboudha Temple is in the heart of Patan (Lalitpur), one of the three ancient cities in the Kathmandu Valley, renowned for its sophisticated artistry and tantric practices.

In the late 16th century, the craftsman Abhaya Raj Shakya built Mahaboudha after being inspired by the great temple at Bodhgaya in India.  It is commonly referred to as the Temple of a Thousand Buddhas because each layered brick holds an image of the Enlightened One, and the shikhara-style temple presents 9,000 more miniature Buddhas on the exterior façade.

The vast majority of Newar Buddhist shrines are tiered pagoda forms, but Mahaboudha stands out with its distinctive North Indian architectural style. Its terracotta tower rises from the small but garlanded courtyard of Patan's old homes like a flame. The ambiance is serene, with soft sunlight and the smell of oil lamps and incense in the air. As pilgrims walk the walls, they gently touch them while reciting mantras. There, in the inner chambers of the temple compound, resides the Flying Vajrayogini, one of Nepal's most enigmatic and influential figures in Tantric Buddhism.

Who is the Sky-Flying Vajrayogini? 

The Flying Vajrayoginī is attributed with immense importance and reverence in Tantric Buddhism, also known as Akāśa Vajrayoginī in Sanskrit. This figure represents both the master's ultimate knowledge and the experience of ultimate freedom, embodying the awakened mind that transcends all limits. Traditionally, the Flying Vajrayoginī is depicted as a radiant red goddess traveling through the air, brandishing her curved knife and skull cup to symbolize the ability to eradicate ignorance and transmute desire into enlightened awareness reverently. 

Vajrayoginī is considered to embody the energy of realization, manifest through flying and dancing, in contrast to the peaceful buddhas who typically sit motionless and in contemplative stillness. Her flight in the sky alludes to the vastness of the awakened mind, the luminosity of the awareness, and an experience of freedom. In Nepal, specifically, she is also venerated and recognized as the Flying Vajrayoginī of Mahaboudha, a secret goddess and form of devotion among the Newar Buddhists, who celebrate her peaceful devotion and Tantric power of action.

Iconography of the Flying Vajrayoginī

• Body & Color: Represented as a shining red goddess, indicating passion lifted to wisdom.
• Posture: Shown flying through the sky, one leg bent and the other raised—expressing absolute freedom and the limitless nature of the awakened mind.
• Facial Expression: Her expression is fierce yet blissful, indicating the presence of both compassion and wisdom together.
• Right Hand: Brandishing a curved knife (kartika) that cuts through ignorance and ego-clinging.
• Left Hand: Holding a skull cup (kapāla) filled with nectar, indicating the transformation of desire into wisdom.
• Khaṭvāṅga Staff: Leaning on her shoulder—signifying her union with her consort, Heruka, and the inseparability of method and wisdom.
• Ornaments: Wearing bone jewelry and a garland of skull designs, signifying the transcending of death and illusion.
• Nudity: Her nude body indicates purity and total non-attachment to conceptual obscurations.

The Maitripa Tradition

The Maitripa Tradition of Vajrayoginī, also known as the Maitrī Kachö, traces its origins to the renowned Indian Mahāsiddha Maitripa in the 11th century.  Maitripa was a practitioner of profound meditative absorption and nondual wisdom, receiving direct and visionary teachings from Vajrayoginī, who appeared to him as a goddess flying through the sky, brilliant like the fiery sun, fierce, and ultimately generous.

During her extraordinary revelation, she disclosed the true nature of Mahāmudrā and nondual wisdom, which states that all phenomena are inherently empty yet luminous and inseparable from one another. This lineage is characterized by an emphasis on spontaneity and experience, well over ritual. This concept also impacted the Newar Buddhist tradition of Nepal.

Many consider the Flying Vajrayoginī of Mahaboudha to be a living expression of Maitripa's vision. This shrine in Patan likewise bears witness to this mystical legacy today. It is an outer shrine that connects the monastic worship of the thousand Buddhas with the yoginī's interior, sky-like knowing.

Symbolism and Practices of Akash Vajrayogini

In the Mahaboudha lineage, the Flying Vajrayoginī serves as both the protector of the temple and yidam (meditational deity) for practitioners to establish a connection with.

1. The Flight of Nonduality

Her "flight" represents the achievement of nondual awareness—the understanding that samsara (the cycle of suffering) and nirvana (freedom from suffering) are not separate realities but simply two aspects of the same mind. In the meditation, the practitioner visualizes herself flying through the limitless expanse of sky, which symbolizes the openness and freedom of consciousness.

2. Cutting Through Ignorance

The curved knife in her right hand cuts through attachments and fixations of the mind. It represents prajñā, that kind of wisdom that cuts through illusions. The skull cup in her left hand rots the poisons of greed, hatred, and delusion into the nectar of discernment. So, she demonstrates the path of transmutation in tantra, where even desire and aversion can be ignited to wake up.

3. The Feminine Principle of Awakening

Vajrayoginī embodies the flawless female Buddha and represents the active force of awakening. She illustrates the mind's intrinsic nature to be liberated, spacious, and luminous when she flies in the sky. The goddess is the mother of all Buddhas.

In Newar Buddhism, she is also considered the protective mother of tantric teachings, one who safeguards the secret teachings and helps practitioners engage in Mahāmudrā and Highest Yoga Tantra.

Local Legends: The Dream of the Old Woman

One night, a Shakya grandmother living near the Mahaboudha temple saw a red goddess flying above the spire in her dream and had the same dream again and again. Each night, she saw the same vision of a luminous figure soaring into the sky with a skull cup pouring light into the universe.

When the grandmother eventually disclosed the nightly dream to the caretakers of the shrine, they searched the area. They found an ancient, half-buried statue of the "efficient upāya" behind the temple. The priests identified the statue as a version of Vajrayogini and constructed a shrine to it within the Mahaboudha complex.

Since that time, devotees report that individuals sitting in meditation in front of the image of the Flying Vajrayogini usually experience vivid dreams, which they interpret as intimate signs of her blessings.

Rituals and Pilgrimages Related to Vajrayogini

The Mahaboudha shrine dedicated to the Flying Vajrayogini serves as an offering place for people to worship in silence and perform rituals.

1. Daily Offerings

Each day, local Vajracharya priests arrive with flowers, butter lamps, and incense. Devotees bow in front of her picture, invoking the Flying Vajrayogini with quiet prayers for help overcoming problems and emotional pain.

Many devotees pray for her blessings, seeking an open mind, strength, and protection, as she represents the goddess who embodies courage and the ability to face life's fears.

2. Tantric Practice

The Mahaboudha shrine is a sacred place to visit for those just beginning Vajrayoginī sādhana practice. People who practice at the shrine can recite mantras and conduct short meditations, imagining themselves as the goddess to join awareness and emptiness in her form. 

"OM OM SARVA BUDDHA DAKINIYE VAJRA VARNANIYE VAJRA VAIROCANIYE HUM HUM HUM"

3. The Pilgrimage Circuit

Mahaboudha is one of the stops on the Four Vajrayoginī pilgrimage circuit in the Kathmandu Valley:

• Bijeshworī is located near Swayambhu, in the northwest part of Kathmandu.
• Pharping is south of Kathmandu in the Dakshinkali region.
• Sankhu (Vajrayoginī Temple) is in the northeast valley.
• Mahaboudha (Akāśa Vajrayoginī) is in the middle of Patan.

People who visit all four sites are thought to get the full blessing of the Dakini, which brings together body, speech, and mind in the realization of emptiness and bliss.

Newar Architectural Mandala of Temple

The Flying Vajrayoginī in Mahaboudha is another illustration of how Newar Buddhism is an amalgam of disparate notions. The temple's exterior honors the Shakyamuni Buddha and monastic devotion; it is inside that the tantric heart of the practice is revealed—the wisdom goddess who stands for direct experience of enlightenment beyond form.

This two-part quality—public devotion in the exterior and esoteric realization in the interior—is an excellent reflection of Newar culture—a living mandala of outer, inner, and secret meaning. The brick temple exterior acknowledges the Buddha's historical enlightenment. The inner form, the Flying Yoginī shrine, symbolizes the practitioner's own awakening through the process of tantric realization. Together, they present a comprehensive view of the Buddhist path, spanning from devotion to direct experience and from the earth to the sky.

Modern Interpretation of the Flying Vajrayoginī

The Flying Vajrayogini continues to captivate practitioners, artists, and spiritual seekers worldwide, extending far beyond the traditional monastic circles of Nepal. Her upward flight represents a form of mental liberation, overcoming fear, attachment, and self-doubt, and exemplifies a mind that is unbound to its circumstances. Fierce yet still compassionate, she embodies sacred femininity, where power, wisdom, and love converge. From a psychological perspective, her dance and movement of flight suggest the journey of shadow material into clarity, transforming raw experience into awakened awareness. Finally, she bridges worlds: the Newar tantric lineage of Patan and the universal truths of awakened reality. Today, visitors to the Mahaboudha shrine almost feel her still-living presence and instantly realize that enlightenment is not somewhere else, but always within, just waiting to be seen in the vast expanse of awareness.

Conclusion: Soaring Beyond Limits

One of the symbols that will never become old-fashioned is the Flying Vajrayogini of Mahaboudha. It demonstrates the connection between the visible and the invisible, the tangible and the intangible.  Her appearance serves as a poignant reminder that the awakening process is not merely an abstract concept but a tangible one, and that it can be achieved through devotion, practice, and self-knowledge.  The temple itself is the perfect testament to the equilibrium between outer reverence and inner realization, the discipline of monasticism and the vision of tantra.  In this manner, Mahaboudha is not merely a place but a living mandala that invites practitioners to immerse themselves in the entire palette of human consciousness, both thinking and acting, which transforms everything.

 The Flying Vajrayogini is, to date, a source of inspiration to people of all walks of life. It is a strong image of liberty, courage, and the capacity of the mind to shed light.  She is a living example of the interdependence of wisdom and compassion, as well as strength and tenderness. She makes it clear to anyone who comes across her that awakening is not distant and not so challenging to locate.  People can be drawn to rituals, meditation, or even by gazing at her image, and this will make them realize that there is no limit to the vastness of their consciousness.  In Mahaboudha, the goddess continues to fly, murmuring that light is never too far; only it needs one to catch a glimpse of it, touch it, and live.

Explore Our Collection of Sky Flying Vajrayogini from Termatree.