Untitled

Unknown

second half of the 7th century · Sandstone · Asian Art

This bodhisattva of compassion is represented as an ascetic, dressed in a waistcloth secured with a cord, the details incised into the contours of his torso. He has a flayed antelope skin (ajina) across his left shoulder, an attribute of the earliest representations of this bodhisattva in early seventh-century northern India. The cult of Avalokiteshvara assumed special importance in Mahayana Buddhism during this period. Soon after its development in India, it was shared with Southeast Asian practitioners. cat. no. 133

Artist

Unknown

Date

second half of the 7th century

Medium

Sandstone

Culture

Southern Thailand

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Samuel Eilenberg Collection, Ex Coll.: Columbia University, Purchase, Lila Acheson Wallace Gift, 1987