Eleven-headed bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara

The bodhisattva of compassion’s eleven heads are here arranged in three tiers, topped by a wrathful head and the peaceful head (now lost) of Amitabha, his spiritual father. Avalokiteshvara’s central hands hold the wish-granting pearl, which stands for the spirit of enlightenment. His right hands (now missing) would have borne the prayer beads and the wheel of the doctrine and displayed the gesture of bestowing gifts. His left hands carry a lotus, a bow and arrow, and a vase containing the elixir of immortality, symbolizing enlightenment, which brings boundless life.