yi-dam

(Tibetan). A tutelary deity associated with tantric Buddhism. The image and attributes of the deity are appropriated and used during personal meditation (sādhana) for the purpose of transformation through self-identification. Examples of yi-dams include Cakra-saṃvara, Hayagrīva, Heruka, Mahākāla, Vajrabhairava, and Vajrayoginī, all of whom have a distinctive iconography and are the object of cultic practices such as rites of propitiation.