Potala Palace: Samantabhadra Bodhisattva

CHINA, Tibet, Lhasa

Samantabhadra wears a five-leaf crown with hair piled in a high unsisa while ribbons hang behind the ear ornaments. The Bodhisattva’s head is slightly inclined to the left and the expression on the broad face is benign. The body is adorned with jewelry. The hands form mudras and hold long-stemmed lotuses, which extend to above either shoulder. Their flowers support a scripture to the right and a vase to the left. The peach-shaped nimbus and aureole connect in a dense flame pattern and the whole is surmounted by the triple jewel of refuge. The Bodhisattva sits with legs crossed in full lotus position upon a lotus throne overlapped by a sitting cloth. The throne is borne sideways on the back of a caparisoned, double-tusked elephant, which strides upon lotuses level with the surface of an inverted lotus base.