3 headed Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara

thingiverse

Kuyunu sculpture is distinctive for its play between figurative and two-dimensional abstraction as well as its emphasis on vibrant coloration. This work is unique for its subject's embodiment of the idea of heightened powers of vision and omniscience through the repetition of three nearly identical faces around the perimeter of the head. Related figures were used in initiation ceremonies that imparted esoteric knowledge concerning the secrets of mystical forces and ancestral influence. Large-scale sculptures of bodhisattvas wearing extraordinary jewelry epitomize certain stylistic and iconographic innovations in Kuyunu sculpture from the second half of the sixth century. The astonishing jeweled harness suspended from the neck of the bodhisattva seen here falls in two long strands of pearl-like clusters and multifaceted beads.