Vajrapāni is also called Chana Dorji and Chador and extensively represented in Buddhist iconography as one of the earliest three protective deities or bodhisattvas surrounding the Buddha.

He is sometimes represented as a yidam with one head and four hands in a form known as Nilambara-Vajrapani, carrying a vajra, and treading on personage lying on snakes.

Mahacakra-Vajrapani, also a yidam, is depicted with three heads and six arms, carrying a vajra and snakes whilst treading on Brahmā and Maheśvara.

In early Buddhist legends, Vajrapāni is a minor deity who accompanied Gautama Buddha during his career as a wandering mendicant.

In another version it is stated that while the Nāgas came to worship the Buddha and hear his sermons, Vajrapāni assumed the form of a bird to deceive them so that they were not attacked by their deadly enemies, the Garudas.

[14] According to the Pañcaviṃsatisāhasrikā- and Aṣṭasāhasrikāprajñāpāramitās, any bodhisattva on the path to buddhahood is eligible for Vajrapāni's protection, making them invincible to any attacks "by either men or ghosts".

[15] As Buddhism expanded in Central Asia and fused with Hellenistic influences into Greco-Buddhism, the Greek hero Heracles was adopted to represent Vajrapāni.

[18] During the Kushan Empire, Gandhara art depicted Vajrapani's images in which he is shown primarily as a protector of Sakyamuni and not in the role of a bodhisattva.

In this panel he is adorned with a tall crown, two necklaces, a snake armlet and holds the vajra in his left hand, and resting on a scarf tied across his hips.

[20] In China, Vajrapāni, known as the "vajra-holding god" (執金剛神 Zhíjīngāng shén), is widely venerated in his dual manifestation as the "vajra warriors" (金剛力士 Jīngāng Lìshì) or "Benevolent Kings" (仁王 Rénwáng), two muscular guardian deities that usually stand at each side of the shanmen in Buddhist temples and monasteries.

As in China, his image was the inspiration for the Niō (仁王, Benevolent Kings), the wrath-filled and muscular guardian of the Buddha, found at the entrance of many Buddhist temples.

The sixth formation of the Womb Realm Mandala is called the "Vajrapani enclosure", in which he is depicted in 20 different forms, with Vajrasattva as the presiding deity.

Both seated Padmapani and Vajrapani, regarded as the guardian of Buddha Vairocana, are depicted as a handsome well-built men with serene expression adorned with exquisite crown and jewelries.

Some of the notable ones are: Vajrapani-Acharya (Dharamapala) in a human form with only one head with a third eye with hair raised and crowned by a skull with fiery expression.

The icon is adorned with symbols of vajra, snake with yum held in its main hands, and as shakti it to his left is shown holding a skull-cup (kapala) and grigug (chopper or hooked knife).

Sùng Thiện Diên Linh stele (built 1122) in Long Đọi Temple from the Lý dynasty mentioned eight.

The Mūlasarvāstivāda vinaya includes a narrative about how Vajrapani used his strength to destroy the boulder Devadatta used in his attempt to murder the Buddha.

This association correlates with the presence of large images of Vajrapani in Cave 6 at Aurangabad, located at both the entrance and exit of the circumambulation passage.

[26] The Pāli Canon's Ambattha Sutta, which challenges the rigid nature of caste system, tells of one instance of him appearing as a sign of the Buddha's power.

Knowing the Buddha's family to be the Shakya clan, who are Kshatriya caste, Ambattha failed to show him the respect he would a fellow Brahmin.

[29] The story begins with the transformation of the bodhisattva Samantabhadra into Vajrapāni by Vairocana, the cosmic Buddha, receiving a vajra and the name "Vajrāpani".

Vajrapāni refuses because Maheśvara "is deluding beings with his deceitful religious doctrines and engaging in all kinds of violent criminal conduct".

A short story appearing in Zhang Zhuo's (660–741) Tang anthology shows how the deity had been venerated in the Monastery from at least the eighth century.

It is an anecdotal story of how the Shaolin monk Sengchou (480-560) gained supernatural strength and fighting ability by praying to the Vajrapāni and being force-fed raw meat.

[36][37] If a person who compassionately nourishes all living beings employs this [deity's] charm, it will increase his body's strength (zengzhang shen li).

The Chinese scholar A'De noted this was because the Lotus Sutra says Guanyin takes on the visage of whatever being that would best help pervade the dharma.

A stele erected by Shaolin abbot Wenzai in 1517 shows the deity's vajra-club had by then been changed to a gun staff,[40] which originally "served as the emblem of the monk".

Bandits lay siege to the monastery, but it is saved by a lowly kitchen worker wielding a long fire poker as a makeshift staff.

[43] In addition, he suggests the mythical elements of the tale were based on the fictional adventures of Sun Wukong from the Chinese epic Journey to the West.

A wicker statue woven by the monks and featured in the center of the "Kinnara Hall" was mentioned in Cheng Zongyou's seventeenth century training manual Shaolin Staff Method.