Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara

Here the supreme Buddhist saviour Avalokitesvara raises his hand in a gesture of reassurance and protection to his devotees. The gesture underscores the role of the bodhisattva, as the supreme expression of the Mahayana Buddhist concept of the compassionate saviour. (Bodhisattava is the name given to one on the path towards becoming a buddha.)

The figure is flanked by a lotus stem and flower asserting his dual title as Padmapani, the ‘Lotus-bearer’. He wears a three-pointed crown (mukuta) in the centre of which is the figure of Amitabha, the Buddha of Eternal Light and his spiritual mentor. An antelope skin (mrigajma), Avalokitesvara’s principal attribute, is tied firmly across his chest.