Juichimen Senju Kannon

Kamakura Period, 1251-1254.
Sanjusangen-do Temple, Kyoto

The central image in the Hondo of Sanjusangen-do is a thousand-armed, eleven-headed Kannon. The eleven-foot tall image is decorated with gold leaf over a lacquer undercoating, with crystal eyes. Its construction is of the yosegi type, in which wood blocks are hollowed and assembled to create the statue. The sculpture is the only large image by Tankei (1173-1256) which has been definitely authenticated.

The "thousand-armed" Kannon has actually 40 arms, but each one can be considered to save 25 worlds, for a symbolic total of 25x40 = 1000.