A Thousand Golden Arms

Viewing notes

A viewer's written impression — not a buyer review or first-hand record

This golden many-armed bodhisattva stands on an open lotus blossom, gilt from crown to base and radiant with light. The crown rises high; the principal face smiles with lowered eyes, while smaller faces are stacked at the sides and above, tier upon tier, until a tiny seated figure crowns the top. The main hands are joined at the chest, another pair cradles an object at the lap, and all the remaining arms fan out to the sides and behind, each holding an emblem — lotus, wheel, sword, vase, jewel — arranged within a vast circular halo as a wheel of rays, its surface dense with minute hand-marks and beams. Robes gather from the shoulders into a long skirt of folds, sashes curling down at the sides. Beneath the lotus stands an octagonal altar base, carved, with small squared posts at its corners. The more arms, the calmer the face. It belongs at the principal place of a shrine, or at the centre of an open space, where a full wheel of golden light receives you at the door.