Home›Buddhist Deities›Veneration Status›Actively venerated in a living traditionBrowse ByActively venerated in a living traditionThis page groups deities by how actively they are still venerated today, from gods with a living cult to ones whose worship has died out entirely. Wikipedia defines veneration as "the practice of honoring people and articles of religious significance, for example, the veneration of saints and the veneration of relics." Browsing this way lets a visitor tell a deity that still receives offerings apart from one preserved only in historical study.FactsLearn MoreActively venerated in a living traditionSourcesComments (0)Reader Challenges (0)FactsAttestationEra of AttestationWell-attestedInherited devas appear in the earliest canonical strata; the celestial buddhas and bodhisattvas emerge with the Mahayana sutras around the turn of the era; the wrathful tantric deities from about the seventh century CE. All remain in worship. 2Veneration TodayWell-attestedVenerated today across the Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions. 2OverviewWhat Defines This GroupingWell-attestedCelestial and enlightened figures venerated across the Buddhist world: buddhas and bodhisattvas, tantric deities and protectors, and devas inherited from Indian and local pantheons. Buddhism posits no creator god and the historical Buddha is not one. The grouping is a convenience of this atlas rather than a category the tradition uses. 2DirectoryCategoryWell-attestedDeities 1StatusStanding as a Comparative CategoryWell-attestedCalling buddhas, bodhisattvas and protectors deities imports a category Buddhist doctrine does not use. The tradition's own classes - buddha, bodhisattva, deva, dharmapala - do not map onto one another, and none of them maps onto the word god. 2Learn MoreThe divine figures of Buddhism This group gathers the celestial and enlightened figures venerated across the Buddhist world. Classical Buddhism does not posit a creator god, and the historical Buddha is remembered as an awakened teacher rather than a deity; yet the tradition developed a vast pantheon of buddhas, bodhisattvas, protectors and inherited gods, especially in its Mahayana and Vajrayana forms. The browser will find cosmic buddhas such as Amitabha and Vairocana, the compassion-bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara (Guanyin, Chenrezig) and the wisdom-bodhisattva Manjushri, the future buddha Maitreya, wrathful protectors, and devas absorbed from Hindu and local traditions. Provenance and school (Theravada, Mahayana, Vajrayana) shape which figures appear and how they are understood.Actively venerated in a living traditionFilter Results34 entriesMember OfAllThe Twenty-One Taras (2)Attested InAllBhaishajyaguru Sutra (1)HistoricityAllHistorically attested (3)Legendary: known from narrative tradition, not the historical record (2)Not a historical person: a divine or other-than-human being (29)TheologyAllDebated (1)Non-theistic: no creator god is central (33)ArchetypeAllThe Caregiver (8)The Creator (1)The Explorer (1)The Hero (3)The Innocent (2)The Lover (1)The Magician (1)The Rebel (7)The Ruler (2)The Sage (5)Era Attested Start YearAll-450 (1)-100 (6)150 (2)200 (4)400 (4)500 (1)550 (1)671 (1)700 (5)750 (1)800 (3)900 (1)1000 (1)1357 (1)Worshipped InAllBuddhism (33)Domain / FunctionAllAwakening and liberation (14)Childbirth (1)Commerce and wealth (1)Compassion and mercy (6)Cosmic order and truth (1)Death (2)Destruction and dissolution (4)Disease and plague (1)Guide of the dead (1)Healing and medicine (3)Magic and sorcery (1)Protection and guardianship (15)Purification (1)Sun (1)The underworld (1)Wisdom and counsel (6)GenderAllCollective / plural, not a single figure (1)Female (7)Gender-fluid across the tradition (1)Male (25)PantheonAllBuddhist (33)Show ResultsBrowseCompareSelect all 34AcalaActively venerated in a living traditionAkshobhyaActively venerated in a living traditionAmitabhaActively venerated in a living traditionAmoghasiddhiActively venerated in a living traditionAvalokiteshvaraActively venerated in a living traditionBhaishajyaguruActively venerated in a living traditionBodhidharmaActively venerated in a living traditionChakrasamvaraActively venerated in a living traditionHaritiActively venerated in a living traditionHayagrivaActively venerated in a living traditionKshitigarbhaActively venerated in a living traditionMahakalaActively venerated in a living traditionMahasthamapraptaActively venerated in a living traditionMaitreyaActively venerated in a living traditionManjushriActively venerated in a living traditionNagarjunaActively venerated in a living traditionPadmasambhavaActively venerated in a living traditionPalden LhamoActively venerated in a living traditionPattiniActively venerated in a living traditionPrajnaparamitaActively venerated in a living traditionRatnasambhavaActively venerated in a living traditionSamantabhadraActively venerated in a living traditionShakyamuni BuddhaActively venerated in a living traditionTaraActively venerated in a living traditionThe Twenty-One TarasActively venerated in a living traditionTsongkhapaActively venerated in a living traditionVairochanaActively venerated in a living traditionVaishravanaActively venerated in a living traditionVajrakilayaActively venerated in a living traditionVajrapaniActively venerated in a living traditionVajrasattvaActively venerated in a living traditionVajrayoginiActively venerated in a living traditionWhite TaraActively venerated in a living traditionYamantakaActively venerated in a living traditionSources1. Divinity Atlas Directory Taxonomy, First Edition Category Treetier 12. The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhismtier 1Robert E. Buswell Jr. and Donald S. Lopez Jr., Princeton University Press, 2014s.v. deva; s.v. bodhisattvaView the SourceDivinity Atlas Directory Prose, First Edition Category Descriptionstier 1Comments (0)No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.Sign in to join the discussion.Reader Challenges (0)No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.