Avalokiteshvara as Saviour
from Perils, ink and colours on
silk
From Cave 17, Mogao, near Dunhuang, Gansu
province, China
Five Dynasties or Northern
Song Dynasty, mid-to late 10th century AD
Belief in help when
suffering
Avalokiteshvara, the
bodhisattva
of compassion, is show in his six-armed form seated on a lotus
behind an altar. He can be identified by the small figure of the
Buddha
Amitabha seated in his headdress. His two
upper arms hold the sun and the moon, his two lower arms hold a
vase and a rosary and his two middle arms are in the
vitarka mudra (gesture
of teaching).
It was
believed that if one called Avalokiteshvara's name when in
danger, he would come to your aid. This is illustrated in scenes on
either side. On the left from the top a figure pushed off a high
cliff is miraculously supported by a cloud. In the middle a man
escapes his fetters and at the bottom a man is preserved from the
poisonous bites of a scorpion and a snake. On the right a sword is
shown breaking into pieces, saving the man about to be executed.
Below, two people are shown covering their heads to escape bad
weather, and at the bottom a man is seemingly unharmed in the midst
of a fire.
In the lower
register of the painting donor figures are shown: a lady and a
child on the left and two men on the right.
R. Whitfield, Art of Central Asia: The Ste-1, vol. 2 (Tokyo, Kodansha International Ltd., 1982-85)