Dule Temple Avalokitesvara Pavilion: Eleven-Headed Avalokitesvara

CHINA, Tianjin; Liao dynasty

The figure stands on a lotus pedestal in the center of the Avalokitesvara Pavilion and is flanked by two smaller Bodhisattvas. This sculpture is one of the earliest known clay statues of Avalokitesvara in China and the largest surviving. The Bodhisattva is leaning slightly forward, as if to fix the gaze of devotees looking up from below.
Avalokitesvara’s ten extra heads are arranged about a crown in four tiers above the main head, with an Amitabha Buddha at the top. The Bodhisattva’s right hand is held at the chest in a mudra, while the left hand holds one of the stoles that loop across the skirt. Other stoles descend the length of the body while an elaborate ornament covers the chest.