Marichi 'Goddess of the Dawn' Outline Page

The goddess Marichi, although not so popular in the last few centuries, was at one time a very important deity in Tantric Buddhism. She has a very large number of different forms both peaceful and wrathful, simple and complex. The most consistent features found in her iconography are a pig, or sow, face to the side or above the main face. She can be riding atop a pig or horse, or seated in a chariot drawn by five or seven pigs or horses. She is usually either red or yellow in colour. In some depictions Marichi is shown holding a branch of the Ashoka tree and a sewing needle.