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Batō (Horse-Headed) Kannon (base)

馬頭観音像

Edo Period (base only)
(1615–1868)
wood
Overall: 110.6 cm (43 9/16 in.); Base: 28 cm (11 in.); Figure: 82.6 cm (32 1/2 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1981.1.b
Location: 235B Japanese
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Description

Batō Kannon, or Hayagriva Avalokiteshvara in Sanskrit, is the “horse-headed” form of the bodhisattva of compassion, who presides over the realm of animals in the Buddhist Six Realms of Transmigration. A horse’s head appears in the hair of this sculpture to identify it. Bodhisattvas are beings who, though enlightened, choose to remain within the worlds of existence to help others. The six realms are heaven, hell, human, animal, hungry ghost, and ashura, or fierce supernatural entities.
Batō (Horse-Headed) Kannon (base)

Batō (Horse-Headed) Kannon (base)

Edo Period (base only)

Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)

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