Mogao Cave 3: Thousand-Armed, Thousand-Eyed Avalokitesvara

CHINA, Gansu, Dunhuang; Yuan dynasty

This mural in the center of the south wall features one of the six Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva images in the cave. The Bodhisattva’s eleven heads are arranged in three levels: three at the bottom, seven in the middle, and one small Buddha head at the top. All of the faces other than the single Buddha head have a third eye. The larger main face of the Bodhisattva is round with downcast eyes. Avalokitesvara wears a long, trailing robe with ornaments, and stands upon a lotus pedestal. Forty-two hands form a circle around the body, while hundreds more radiate outward, resembling a large full moon. Two of the larger hands hold a Buddha image above the heads, two are joined in anjali (reverence) mudra in front of the chest, and two hold a Dharma instrument in front of the abdomen. The other hands each have an eye in the palm and form various mudras.