Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion, in his four-armed (Chaturbhuja) form: white in colour, his upper hands hold a crystal mala and a jewelled lotus while the lower pair join at the heart, with Amitabha Buddha at the crown of his head. He is flanked by the yellow bodhisattva Manidhara at his right and the white goddess Shadakshari at his left, whose colour and attributes mirror his own.
The top register carries the Five Wisdom Buddhas amid Indian mahasiddhas, and the Five-Deity Amoghapasha group — with wrathful Hayagriva and Ekajati — gathers at the base. As a consecrated thangka, the painting would have been animated through the ritual of “opening the eyes”, making it a living receptacle of the deity. An inscription on the reverse reads: “All realities arise from causes; the causes are described by the Tathagata… patience is the supreme peace, says the Buddha.” From the John and Berthe Ford Collection, Walters Art Museum (F.120).
