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| Mogao Cave 3: Thousand-Armed, Thousand-Eyed Avalokitesvara |
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Mogao Cave 3: Thousand-Armed, Thousand-Eyed Avalokitesvara
CHINA, Gansu, Dunhuang; Yuan dynasty (1271–1368) |
| This mural in the center of the south wall features one of the six Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva images in the cave. The Bodhisattva’s eleven heads are arranged in three levels: three at the bottom, seven in the middle, and one small Buddha head at the top. All of the faces other than the single Buddha head have a third eye. The larger main face of the Bodhisattva is round with downcast eyes. Avalokitesvara wears a long, trailing robe with ornaments, and stands upon a lotus pedestal. Forty-two hands form a circle around the body, while hundreds more radiate outward, resembling a large full moon. Two of the larger hands hold a Buddha image above the heads, two are joined in anjali (reverence) mudra in front of the chest, and two hold a Dharma instrument in front of the abdomen. The other hands each have an eye in the palm and form various mudras. |
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