popular Buddhist goddess in Nepal, Tibet, and Mongolia. Her name in Sanskrit means “victorious goddess of the uṣṇīṣa,” the last-named object being the protuberance on the top of the Buddha's skull. She wears an image of the Buddha Vairocana in her headdress and is described as residing in the cellar of the caitya (“shrine”). She may be identified by the small figure of Buddha seated on a lotus, which she invariably holds in one of her eight hands. She is little known in China and Japan.