Discovering Avalokiteshvara: The forgotten celestial being

We sometimes do come across abandoned places, monuments, or even statues, which we encounter during our travels, and usually tend to form certain misconceptions without trying to identify what actually they are. Beneath all this dust and rust for centuries, there are unheard stories associated with this deity across Asia which had its very own roots from India. Read on to know more about this mysterious deity…

To crack all the perplexities and to unravel an interesting fact, Avalokiteshvara hails from Buddhism as a Bodhisattva of Compassion. It is arguably the most popular and beloved celestial being throughout the Buddhist world, not only in Mahayana Buddhism but as well as in Vajrayana Buddhism. The admiration and worship of Avalokiteshvara became prevalent in the 3rd century CE and the deity became the most popular Bodhisattva during the 6th and 7th centuries CE.

One of the mind-blowing facts is that Buddhism is closely related to Hinduism and shares a very long history with each other due to which it is common to find Buddhist deities sharing similar elements with Hindu deities influencing Buddhist temples, caves and architecture over Asia.

“Avalokitesvara forms one of such examples that have undergone many transformations over the centuries, acquiring new qualities, several indigenous elements, even different gender and accepting new names: Chenrezig in Tibet, Karunamaya in Nepal, Guanyin in China, Lokanatha in Myanmar and Kannon in Japan.”

Avalokiteshvara’s iconography can be distinguished from other bodhisattvas by the lotus he holds in one hand, symbolizing the potential in us all to attain enlightenment along wears a small image of Amitabha Buddha in his crown, representing his spiritual association.

Eleven-headed Avalokiteshvara (Ekadashamukha Avalokiteshvara) is one of the iconographic forms of Avalokitesvara, wherein the deity has eleven heads arranged in a pyramidal form on top of the main head of the figure having two, four or six hands. As per Lotus Sutra, it is believed that this form of Avalokitesvara has been evolved as a savior.

This divine being is repetitively depicted in the Buddhist caves of India. It has appeared quite prominently in Cave 1 at Ajanta Caves in form of manifestation of Padmapaani.

Moreover, deep in the heart of Sanjay Gandhi National Park at Mumbai, you can discover 11 headed Avalokiteshvara positioned in Cave no 41 and another elegant figure of the same deity at a panel in Cave no. 19 amidst a set of over 100 Buddhist caves called Kanheri hailing from 1st century to 10th century.

The word ‘Kanheri’ is derived from the Sanskrit word ‘Krishnagiri’, which literally means ‘black mountain’, chiselled out of massive basalt rocks comprising of rock-cut caves that were once a centre for Buddhist monks to deliver religious lectures and even provided as an accommodation during their transits. These caves were connected with several trade centres in the vicinity like Sopara, Kalyan, Nashik, Paithan and even as far as Ujjain.

Furthermore, Cave no 41 houses two iconic figures of Avalokiteshvara i.e an Eleven-headed Avalokiteshvara image and the Litany of Avalokiteshvara which is almost in ruins. Avalokitesvara standing beside the Buddha seating in Padmasana is shown rescuing the votaries from ten perils instead of the eight perils which is a unique representation in Buddhist art of ancient India. The 3 faces that face forward are Bodhisattvas, the 3 faces on the left sides are angry faces and 3 faces on the right as faces resembling those of Bodhisattvas but with canine tusks projecting upwards. This figure dates to 600 CE and is the first known image of this deity in the world! A thrilling fact is that this deity paved the development of sculpture in China. So probably, we can say that Chinese monk traveller Hiuen Tsang was responsible for the spread of this cult of this particular Bodhisattva in East Asia as he spent some time at Kanheri and had carried a wooden image of this God.

Left & Centre: Eleven headed Avalokiteshvara at Cave no 41 in Kanheri, Credits: Wanderlust Adventures;

Right: Litany of Avalokiteshvara

An interesting panel from Cave no 90 depicts traveller disciples facing various adversities such as shipwrecks, fire and even from animal or serpent attacks on the right side. While, on the left side, death, sufferings and other punishments are depicted and Avalokitesvara in the centre represents a saviour helping his traveller disciples and worshippers to tackle all these hardships. These beliefs were expressed by well-known Chinese monk traveller Hiuen Tsang and Fa Hien in their travel diaries.

Litany of Avalokiteshvara Padmapani with his 2 consorts Tara & Bhrikuti at Cave 90 showing Vajrayana influence over Kanheri Caves

It is believed that Buddhism propagated to East Asian countries through Central Asian countries from India and from Mumbai itself! India and East Asia were linked by a route of thought, the way of cultural exchange by the Sutra route and not only by the Silk route.

I’m surely not the only one first attracted to Buddhist architecture and mysteries and thus cannot wait to explore Kanheri caves though I have visited this place so many times before, never really paid much heed to the heritage it has to offer. Thus, it would be worth paying a visit to one of these great cosmic beings, with lowered eyelids, looking inward into the mind and downward to witness the lamentations of the world.

These masterpieces who have witnessed many events for centuries are sometimes taken for granted, even after realizing the existence of these heritages. Mumbai is considered as a bustling metro with cafes and party places but most of us remain unaware of the fact that something historically significant or unexplored lies around waiting to get explored.