1000-Armed Avalokiteshvara

Scene 8, Baodingshan, Dazu (map)

In this stunning devotional relief, the thousand hands of Guanyin (Avalokiteshvara), which give him the power to save sentient beings everywhere, have been shaped into an aureole surrounding the deity. The lady and official flanking the image may be donor statues. The relief is 7.2m high by 12.5m wide (23.6' by 41'). Believe it or not, someone has actually counted the hands: according to Howard (p. 16), there are 1,007 of them.