Wooden Seated Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva of Beopjusa Temple, Boeun

This wooden seated Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva is enshrined at Beopjusa Temple. It wears an elaborately decorated crown adorned with a flaming cintamani, or magic jewel, with a small Buddha carved at its centre, and around the abdomen is a round floral ornament resembling armour, giving the whole figure a markedly decorative character. The nearly square face bears a solemn expression; the right hand is raised to the chest and the left hand rests on the abdomen with the thumb and middle finger touching, rendered in curving, realistic lines as if modelled on the soft hand of a living person, full of vitality. The drapery covering both shoulders likewise falls naturally along the curves of the body, showing a voluminous, curvilinear beauty. Among the relics found inside the statue was a record of its production, which shows that it was made in the twelfth year of the Chinese Shunzhi reign, that is, in 1655. Simple, unadorned and yet full of volume, this wooden Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva is regarded as an important benchmark work for the study of late Joseon Buddhist statues made after the Japanese invasions.

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Where it is

Region

Boeun, Chungbuk

Designation

Treasure · 보물