Mogao Cave 17: Thousand-Armed, Thousand-Eyed Avalokitesvara

CHINA, Gansu, Dunhuang; Five Dynasties

Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva wears a headdress which is adorned with a Buddha image and stands barefoot on a lotus pedestal. The Bodhisattva has a square face with a third eye in the middle of the forehead. Ornaments, a stole, and a dhoti cover the body. The arms form a large mandorla around the figure. Many of the hands hold different Dharma implements including a brush and book, a lotus, prayer beads, staffs, bow and arrow, and sun and moon discs, all of which symbolize the Bodhisattva’s ability to benefit all sentient beings through different means. Mahadevi kneels in the lower left corner, and the elderly Vasu, holding a staff and leaning backwards, is depicted on the right.