Eleven-Headed Avalokitesvara
Ink and color on silk
Eleven-Headed Avalokitesvara
JAPAN; Kamakura period
Avalokitesvara has white skin and narrowed eyes. The Bodhisattva sits on a lotus throne at the top of Mount Potalaka. Eleven smaller heads are painted within the headdress. Avalokitesvara wears a necklace, bracelets, a dhoti, and a stole. Beams of light radiate from the urna. The right hand forms the varada (wish-granting) mudra, and the left hand holds a vase containing a lotus. The nimbus and the aureole are painted with rings of dull color, while the mandorla is a simple gold circle. Below the Bodhisattva, there are trees and rounded rocks. In the bottom left corner, a figure with red skin kneels and makes an offering.
For more details, go to the Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Painting A-H, page 218.
Cite this article:
Hsingyun, et al. "Eleven-Headed Avalokitesvara." Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Painting A-H, vol. 14, 2016, pp. 218.
Hsingyun, Youheng, Youlu, Graham Wilson, Manho, Mankuang, and Susan Huntington. 2016. "Eleven-Headed Avalokitesvara" In Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Painting A-H, 14:218.
Hsingyun, Youheng, Youlu, Wilson, G., Manho, Mankuang, & Huntington, S.. (2016). Eleven-Headed Avalokitesvara. In Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Painting A-H (Vol. 14, pp. 218).
@misc{Hsingyun2016,
author = Hsingyun and Youheng and Youlu and Wilson, Graham and Manho and Mankuang and Huntington, Susan,
booktitle = {Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Painting A-H},
pages = 218,
title = {{Eleven-Headed Avalokitesvara}},
volume = 14,
year = {2016}}
author = Hsingyun and Youheng and Youlu and Wilson, Graham and Manho and Mankuang and Huntington, Susan,
booktitle = {Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Painting A-H},
pages = 218,
title = {{Eleven-Headed Avalokitesvara}},
volume = 14,
year = {2016}}