The Heart Sūtra is a popular sutra in Mahāyāna Buddhism. In Sanskrit, the title Prajñāpāramitāhṛdaya translates as "The Heart of the Perfection of Wisdom".
The Heart Sutra engraved (dated to 1723) on a wall in Mount Putuo, bodhimanda of Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva. The five large red characters read "guān zì zài pú sà" in Mandarin, one of the Chinese names for Avalokiteśvara or Guanyin, which is at the beginning of the sutra. The rest of the sutra is in black characters.
Gridhakuta (also known as Vulture's Peak) located in Rajgir Bihar India (in ancient times known as Rājagṛha or Rājagaha (Pali) - Site where Buddha taught the Prajñāpāramitāhṛdaya (Heart Sutra) and other Prajñāpāramitā sutras.
Sanskrit manuscript of the Heart Sūtra, written in the Siddhaṃ script. Bibliothèque nationale de France
Chinese text of the Heart Sūtra by Yuan dynasty artist and calligrapher Zhao Mengfu (1254–1322 CE)
Prajñāpāramitā means "the Perfection of Wisdom" or "Transcendental Knowledge" in Mahāyāna. Prajñāpāramitā refers to a perfected way of seeing the nature of reality, as well as to a particular body of Mahāyāna scriptures (sūtras) which discusses this wisdom.
A Tibetan painting with a Prajñāpāramitā sūtra at the center of the mandala
Prajñāpāramitā Devi, a personification of Transcendent Wisdom, Folio from a Tibetan 100,000 line Prajñāpāramitā manuscript
Tibetan Painting of Mañjuśrī bodhisattva with the sword of wisdom and a sūtra manuscript, which are common symbols of Prajñāpāramitā in Buddhist art
Prajñāpāramitā illustrated manuscript cover, circa 15th century
