shrishtikanta lokeshvara distemper on cloth nepal

The red universal form of Avalokiteshvara with myriad heads and arms, holding a panoply of ritual implements, animals, flowers and worshipping deities, the bodhisattva standing on a lotus emerging from the blue ocean with nagaraja, auspicious emblems and a turtle, golden rays emanating from his forehead, his eyes, mouth, throat, shoulders, heart, navel, hands, knees and feet, with the rays connected to Hindu deities at either side including Chandra and Surya above, the ocean below flanked by Ganapati and Hyagriva, with Ganesha, Manjughosha and Mahakala beneath with the donor family, and with numerous Buddhist and Hindu deities above including Umamaheshvara and the Pancharaksha goddesses.

Hugo E. Kreijger, Kathmandu Valley Painting, The Jucker Collection, Boston, 1999, p. 68, no. 21.

The representation of Shrishtikanta Lokeshvara is unique to Nepal, while the iconography is related to that of the eleven-headed and one thousand-armed Avalokiteshvara more popularly worshipped in Tibet; for a contemporary painting of Shrishtikanta Lokeshvara and a full discussion of the iconography; see Huntington and Bangdel, 2003, p. 194, no. 50. Certain iconographic similarities are seen in the Jucker Rato Macchendranath, lot 29 above, including the golden rays connecting the red bodhisattva to Hindu gods, and with various forms of Ganesha, Mahakala and Hyagriva as principal accompanying deities. This rare paubha is distinguished by the artist’s meticulous attention to miniature detail, particularly to the array of hands and their diverse attributes.