Embroidery of Eleven-Headed Avalokitesvara

CHINA; Qing dynasty

This embroidery of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva was made during the rule of Emperor Qianlong (reigned 1736–1795). It was based on a template provided by the emperor himself. Standing on a lotus emerging out of the water, Avalokitesvara has eleven heads in five tiers. The first three tiers show three heads in white, green and red; the fourth tier has a blue Vajrapani with a skull crown and an angry expression; and the red head of Amitabha Buddha is at the top. Avalokitesvara has eight main arms that either have the palms joined or hold various items such as a lotus or Dharma wheel. A circular mandorla is formed by 1,000 other arms. There are six Buddha images above Avalokitesvara. Starting from the left, there is Aksobhya, Sakyamuni, Vairocana, and Ratnasambhava Buddhas; below them is Amitabha on the left and Amoghasiddhi on the right. Tsongkhapa, the founder of the Gelug school, and one of his disciples sit on either side of the lotus at the bottom. The embroidery has inscriptions in Chinese, Manchu, Mongolian, and Tibetan. The artist combined features of thangka paintings with the Su embroidery style.