This thangka depicts the Three-Deity Chaturbhuja Avalokiteshvara, the four-armed “All-Seeing Lord” whose practice originates in the Karandavyuha Sutra — the scripture that first sets out the six-syllable mantra om mani padme hum.
The central white Avalokiteshvara folds his first two hands at the heart while the lower pair hold a crystal mala and a jewelled lotus; he is flanked by the attendants Manidharin, yellow, and Shadakshari, white. In the sky two discs of sun and moon enclose the six-syllable mantra.
The lower brocade mount carries a long inscription on the benefits of reciting the mantra, while the reverse bears a large stupa filled with mantras written in the decorative Lantsa script, together with a verse dedicating the merit to the liberation of all beings.
