23. Avalokiteshvara

23. Avalokiteshvara

India, Pala period, 9th century; copper alloy; 4 1/2 x 3 x 2 1/8 in.; long-term loan from the Nyingjei Lam Collection to The Rubin Museum of Art, New York, L2005.9.4.

The worn condition of this devotional object indicates it was no doubt frequently lustrated with milk or water as an act of veneration. Its small size suggests that it may have traveled with its owner, and indeed, the shrine in which Avalokiteshvara sits creates its own sacred space for worship. Each of the deity’s four hands conveys his qualities: mala, or prayer beads, the gift-giving gesture, the lotus, and an ascetic’s “three-pronged stick” or tridanda. Both the tridanda and the mala are also closely associated with Brahmanical gods, and their depiction here points to the early connections between Buddhism and Brahmanism in India. EJ

Compare and Explore

Man’s Portable Amulet Shrine (Gau) with Case and the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara

Man’s Portable Amulet Shrine (Gau) with Case and the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara

Eastern Tibet, Kham region, ca. 1900; silver, parcel-gilt copper and copper, cloth and leather case, gilt copper alloy; 6 x 5 x 3 in.; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Francis Eric Bloy Bequest, AC1994.116.3.1-3, photo: Wikimedia Commons.

Portable Shrine with the Horse-headed Kannon

Portable Shrine with the Horse-headed Kannon

Japan, Edo period, ca. 1620; fruitwood with cut-out gold, lacquered case with maki-e decoration; shrine: 7 3/4 x 3 1/2 x 3 in., statue: H. 2 5/16; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Purchase, Friends of Far Eastern Arts Gifts, 1985, photo: www.metmuseum.org.