FEMALE NARRATOR:
This bodhisattva is Maitreya, whose name means “benevolent one.” A bodhisattva is an enlightened being who can pass beyond the cycle of life and death but chooses not to. He stays in the world to guide others on the path to true knowledge. This hymn, almost two thousand years old, praises such selfless beings:
ACTOR:
“Their food is the ambrosia of the teachings,
And their drink is the juice of liberation.
Their path is pure aspiration,
And morality their unguent and perfume.”
FEMALE NARRATOR:
A garment or plain cotton sheet is gathered around his waist, and his long hair is thick and piled up on top of his head like an ascetic. A single feature distinguishes him as the bodhisattva Maitreya—look closely at the front and center of his hair and you’ll find a tiny stupa, or circular Buddhist shrine, nestled in his locks. He probably once carried his other emblem too, a pot filled with the elixir of immortality.
Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara
8th century
Asia: Thailand, Buriram
On View
This large, exquisite bronze sculpture was part of a small cache of Buddhist bronzes found in a burial chamber of Prasat Hin Khao Plai Bat II in what is today northeastern Thailand. At the time of its discovery, the sculpture was found wrapped in textiles, suggesting that its burial was purposeful and had sacred significance.
Although the figure is missing his attributes, which were detachable and have become lost in time, the image of Amitabha Buddha seated in the jata (matted hair) identifies him as the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara.
Details
- Title: Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara
- Date: 8th century
- Medium: Bronze
- Dimensions: overall: 36 x 13-1/2 x 7 in. (91.4 x 34.3 x 17.8 cm)
- Credit Line: Norton Simon Art Foundation
- Accession Number: M.1980.14.S
- Copyright: © Norton Simon Art Foundation
Object Information
- Pal, Pratapaditya, Asian Art: Selections from the Norton Simon Museum, fig. 10 p. 67
- Pal, Pratapaditya, Marg, fig. 24 pp. 74, 77, 80
- Knoke, Christine, Minerva, fig. 7 p. 28
- Boisselier, Jean, Artibus Asiae, 1967, fig. 24 pp. 286, 290, 303, 306, 308, 334
- Bunker, Emma C., Archives of Asian Art, 1971, no. 12, figs. 17-18 pp. 67, 70, 74
- Pal, Pratapaditya, American Collectors of Asian Art, 1986, fig. 24 pp. 138, 141, 144
- Bunker, Emma C., Arts of Asia, 2002, no. 24 pp. 116-117, 123
- Pal, Pratapaditya, Asian Art at the Norton Simon Museum, Volume 3: Art from Sri Lanka & Southeast Asia, 2004, no. 96 pp. 102-105, 109, 128-129, 133, 188
- Campbell, Sara, Collector Without Walls: Norton Simon and His Hunt for the Best, 2010, cat. 832 p. 343
- Lost Kingdoms: Hindu Buddhist Sculpture of Early Southeast Asia, 2014, n. 4 pp. 237-238
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