- Title
- The Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara
- Date Made
- circa 800-850
- Medium
- Copper alloy
- Dimensions
- 4 5/8 x 3 3/4 x 2 5/8 in. (11.7 x 9.5. x 6.7 cm)
- Accession Number
- M.86.192
- Collecting Area
- South and Southeast Asian Art
- Curatorial Notes
Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion, is enthroned on what is likely a cushion atop a multi-tiered rectangular pedestal. He sits in the relaxed posture (lalita asana) with his right leg pendant and supported by the pericarp of a lotus flower (karnika). Rather than his more customary piled hair of an ascetic, he wears a jeweled crown with a knob finial (kirita mukuta). This style of headdress is shared by his Hindu counterpart Vishnu, the Lord of Preservation, who is considered an emanation of Avalokiteshvara in Mahayana Buddhism. He wears standard jewelry, including the Brahmanical sacred thread (yajnopavita) worn over his left shoulder, and a striped dhoti. His right hand is held in front of his chest in the gesture of charity (varada mudra). In his left hand, he holds the stalk of a lotus with its flower behind his left shoulder. He may have once had a separately cast aureola (prabhavali) or throneback.
For an iconographically similar image of Avalokiteshvara attributed to circa 900 from Kurkihar in Bihar, India, see M.81.8.3. Together, the two images epitomize the assimilation of the artistic traditions of the Pala Dynasty of Eastern India (r. 750–1161) by the Central Javanese sculptors. This aesthetic relationship was facilitated by portable sculptures carried by traders and religious pilgrims.
- Selected Bibliography
- Little, Stephen, Tushara Bindu Gude, Karina Romero Blanco, Silvia Seligson, Marco Antonio Karam. Las Huellas de Buda. Ciudad de México : Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, 2018.
- Little, Stephen, and Tushara Bindu Gude. Realms of the Dharma: Buddhist Art across Asia. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2025.
