Lokeshwor (Sanskrit Lokeshvara, "lord of the world") is the name used in Nepal for Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion, known in Tibetan as Chenrezig. In thangka painting the name usually means his most striking form, with eleven heads and a thousand arms (Chinese: Qianshou Guanyin). An eye in the palm of every hand is a sign that he sees and reaches all who suffer.
Lokeshwor and Chenrezig
They are the same bodhisattva. Our Chenrezig guide covers the four-armed form most common in Tibetan painting; this guide covers the thousand-armed form and the mandalas built around him. In the Kathmandu Valley, Avalokiteshvara is worshipped in many local forms. The best known is Bunga Dya, also called Karunamaya ("the compassionate one") or Rato Machhindranath, whose image is pulled through Patan each year on a towering chariot, in a festival shared by Buddhists and Hindus.
How he is shown
- Standing on a lotus, white, with the silks and jewels of a bodhisattva and often an antelope skin over his left shoulder.
- Eleven heads in tiers: three rows of three peaceful faces, then a wrathful dark face, and at the very top the red, peaceful head of Amitabha Buddha.
- Eight main arms. The first pair is joined at his heart, often around a wish-fulfilling jewel. The others usually hold a crystal rosary, a dharma wheel, a lotus, a water vase and a bow and arrow, and one hand is lowered in the gesture of giving.
- A thousand hands fanned out behind him in a great circle, often painted as a white halo, each palm with an eye.
The story
Avalokiteshvara vowed not to rest until every being was freed from suffering. Faced with so much suffering, his head split into pieces and his arms shattered; Amitabha, his spiritual father, gave him eleven heads to hear every cry and a thousand arms to help. This form is the focus of nyungne, a Tibetan fasting retreat handed down from the nun Gelongma Palmo. In Chinese Buddhism the thousand-armed Guanyin is linked with the Great Compassion Dharani, chanted daily in many temples.
Lokeshwor mandalas
Lokeshwor is also painted at the heart of a mandala palace, with gateways, walls and courts around him and rings of smaller figures: Buddhas, teachers, Taras and protectors. Some of our mandalas show the thousand-armed form at the centre; others show four-armed Chenrezig. In some of our paintings he is flanked by Manjushri with his raised sword and by wrathful blue Vajrapani in flames. Together the three are the Lords of the Three Families (Tibetan Rigsum Gönpo), often described as compassion, wisdom and power.
Mantra
Om Mani Padme Hum, the six-syllable mantra of Avalokiteshvara.
In a painting
Look closely at the hands. In a fine painting each hand is drawn separately, with its eye, and the circle stays even all the way round. The eleven heads should be stacked cleanly, each face complete, and the objects in the eight main hands easy to read. In a mandala, look at the precision of the architecture and the care given to the smallest figures. At a glance: a white figure standing on a lotus, with a tower of heads and a halo of hands.
