Item: Avalokiteshvara (Bodhisattva & Buddhist Deity) - Sahasrabhujalokeshvara (11 faces, 1000 Hands)

Avalokiteshvara, Sahasrabhuja: the eleven faced, thousand armed form of the deity according to the tradition of Bhikshuni Shri (Gelongma Palmo) originating from the earlier tradition attributed to Arya Nagarjuna. (See paintings in a similar Beijing/Chengde/Yonghegong Style, the Avalokiteshvara Main Page and Reading a Painting).

At the top of the composition are six Buddha figures and a decorative umbrella. To the left of center is Shakyamuni Buddha. The remaining five figures are the Five Tantric Buddhas of the five families: Vairochana (white), Akshobhya (blue), Ratnasambhava (yellow), Amitabha (red) and Amoghasiddhi (green) - tatagata, vajra, ratna, padma and karma.

At the bottom of the composition on the left side is Jampal Gyatso the 8th Dalai Lama (1758-1804). Seated on the right side is an unidentified teacher wearing monastic robes.

Jeff Watt 1-2014

Sadhana Description:
"...the Arya Eleven-faced One, white, standing with feet together. He has eleven faces, the root face white, right green, left red; above these, the central green, right white and left red; above these, the central red, right green and left white; above these, a wrathful, black face with bared fangs, three eyes and tawny, upward-streaming locks; and above this, a peaceful, red face, with an usnisa, having the appearance of a celibate (monk) and endowed with a neck. The first pair of hands are at the heart, with palms folded. The second right holds a rosary, the third eliminates the hunger and thirst of pretas, and the fourth holds a wheel. The second left holds a lotus, the third a water-pot, and the fourth a bow and arrow. The other 992 hands are boon-granting. In the palm of every hand there is a peaceful eye. A deerskin covers his left breast and the lower part of his body is covered with fine stuffs. He is beautiful with disordered (?) tawny locks, crowned with Amitabha, and adorned with all kinds of jewel ornaments."

From Deities of Tibetan Buddhism, Wisdom Publications, 2000. Translated by Martin Willson from the sadhana text Drup Tab Rinjung of Panchen Tanpai Nyima (1782-1853) the Fourth Panchen Lama: biographical reference.