National Treasures & Important Cultural Properties
of National Institutes for Cultural Heritage, Japan

Kannon has historically had one of the strongest followings of any bodhisattva. Believers range from those hoping to gain benefits in this life to those yearning to be reborn in a Pure Land after death. As a result, the iconographies associated with Kannon are diverse and numerous. This iconography of Kannon seated on a mountain is derived from beliefs positioning Mount Potalaka as the bodhisattva’s Pure Land.

The Thousand-Armed Bodhisattva Kannon (J. Senju Kannon; Skt. Sahasrabhuja-avalokiteśvara) is depicted here with a golden body , 42 arms, and 11 heads seated on a lotus pedestal atop a rocky outcropping on Mount Potalaka. It is a common depiction with a scriptural basis in the The Sutra of the Secret Dharma of the Bodhisattva with a Thousand Radiating Eyes (Ch. Qian guang yan guanzizai pusa mimi fa jing). A buddha’s head is placed at the very top, with a seated emanation body of a buddha (“transformation buddha”) facing forward placed just above the crown. To either side, the bodhisattva’s additional heads are placed in an upper row of two each and a lower row of three each, giving the bodhisattva a total of 11 heads, including the main head, and 42 arms, each with a single eye in its palm. The figure’s double halo and mandorla are edged in short flickering flames. Kannon’s body is painted gold and outlined in red. The patterns on the robes are rendered in great detail using gold paint and a white pigment made of crushed shells. The drapes in the robes and the outlines are adorned with somewhat thicker pieces of cut gold leaf. Near the bottom of the painting, a dragon holding a sacred jewel is rising from the sea.

Kannon has an oval face resembling woodblock prints that were deposited in the thousand statues of the Thousand-Armed Bodhisattva Kannon at Myōhō-in Temple in Kyoto and appears to have been made with knowledge of Chinese images of Kannon (Ch. Guanyin). In the background, the Pure Land of Mount Potalaka was sketched in soft lines of diluted ink before adding ink finishes, blue-green pigment while avoiding the outlines, and accents throughout in gold paint. These kinds of Chinese-inspired landscapes in blue and green pigments appeared in Japan during the late Heian period (794-1185) and were gradually absorbed into Buddhist painting traditions. Compositions like this, combining esoteric deities with natural landscapes, were favored in the late Kamakura period (1185–1333), and the pairing was likely a groundbreaking change in the context of both art history and the history of religion.