Shanhua Temple Great Hero Hall: Six-Armed Marici

CHINA, Shanxi, Datong; Jin dynasty

The statue of Marici is one of the Twenty-Four Heavenly Beings located along the east wall of the Great Hero Hall. She is mentioned in the Marici Sutra.
Marici is dressed like a Bodhisattva, wearing a tall crown over wavy hair as well as arm ornaments and a necklace. Although the Marici Sutra describes her with eight arms, the statue depicts her with only six. The lower two hands are held with palms joined; the middle two hold a vajra and an elephant hook; the remaining pair are raised high above the head and may once have held a sun and a moon, her main attributes as a deity of light. A cape is worn over the shoulders of an under robe secured with a bow below the chest. The long skirt falls in various layers to the floor and is ornamented with beaded pendants below the knee.