2. Avalokitesvara images in Champa

According to Nandana Chutiwongs:

“The first references to the worship of Avalokitesvara in champa occur in the inscription of Indravarman II, commemorating the foundation of the vihara for Sri Laksmindralokesvara in A.D. 875 the Bodhisattva is referred to as ‘Lokesvara’ ‘Lokesa’ and also ‘Avalokitesvara’. The first mentioned term ‘Lokesvara’-as has been stated many decades ago–appears to be the most popular vocable for Avalokitesvara in champa. It evidently occurs twice again in the inscription of An-thai (A.D. 902) side by side with the epithet ‘Lokanatha’.”

… “The inscription from Nhan-biêu (A.D. 911), beginning with an invocation to siva, ends up with the homage to siva and to Avalokitesvara under the epithet ‘Krpatmaka’. This rather unusual vocable for Avalokitesvara actually conforms to the Bodhisattva’s compassionate nature which is repeatedly extolled in the inscriptions of that period.”^[1]

Emmanuel Guillon also pointed out that the existence in Champa of these statuettes which were either cast in Central Java or are close local copies, all relating to the Indian style of Nalanda, should be linked with the information recorded in Cham epigraphy concerning Javanese raids during the last quarter of the 8th century.^[2] Indeed these were not solely directed against Champa but against the whole peninsula, and left a trail of more or less durable evidence all along the Malay peninsula and as far north as Yunnan. One of these imported bronzes was to have a special destiny. It is a standing Avalokitesvara, and it fluenced the Cham iconography of the Bodhisattva for almost a century and a half.^[3] It is plausible to speculate that Indonesian influence was not merly confined to the arts, since by the end of the 9th century the kings themselves had for a time become followers of Mahayana Buddhism.

The images of Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara found from all parts of Champa were worshipped as an independent deity as well as a member of the group. The worship of this deity must have been widespread in the entire country.

Various form of image was found such as:

The Avalokitesvara with two armed; most represented by the bronzes, a padma is held in the right hand while a kamandalu appears in the left. These attributes conform to the iconographic formula which already prevailed in China during the fifth century A.D., and was popularly used in the art style of Dvaravati as well as in the early images of Avalokitesvara from Cambodia and the Malay archipelago, this image from Phan thiêt, Phan rang province 1st half of 8th century A.D., now in the National Museum in Ho Chi Minh City, or the bronze image from Mi Duc, (central of Vietnam) seated in maharajalilasana; his right hand rests upon his raised right knee, while his left hand lies open in his lap.^[4] The maharajalila pose and the absence of the attributes recall the general characteristics of the Pyu type of the Avalokitesvara images, dating from about the ninth to the eleventh century A.D. beside that some of Avalokitesvara images with two armed were also found in Quang Tri, Quang Binh province. Nandana Chutiwongs had been observed the sculptures which may have served as models for the Pyu and Cham depictions of this type may be found in the medieval styles of North East India, and in South East Asia, it prevails in the art of the Pagan period in Burma, and in that of the Malay archipelago, it may have been known in ancient Cambodia.^[5] The standing Avalokitesvara found at Mi Duc (Quang Binh province, north of Hue) entered the Museum collection in 1918 and disappeared in 1988. Mi Duc is a northerly and little-known Buddhist site but it was perhaps just as important as Dong Duong (Indo-China) or Dai HVu, as it not only had three shrines but at least one gopura and a large rectangular long hall. The presence of Amitabha in the head-dress, with his pleated robe leaving the right shoulder bare, identifies the statue as Avalokitesvara. The body is slim and has an abutment at the rear. The head is proportionately rather large, and the general aspect is austerely frontal. The skirt is a long dhoti without side-flaps, but with an undulating frontal band descending from a tuck over the waist-belt, and ending in a fish-tail just above the ankles. The whole garment is carved with bands of floral motifs, like those of so many sculpted deities from South East Asia, especially Java.

The Avalokitesvara with four armed are fairly common in the art of Champa they were found in Central Vietnam, from the cave at Phong Nha near the coast Quang Binh, and some in a private collection in France was found from Hoai-Nhon. According to Nandana Chutiwongs this form of Avalokitesvara is related to the concept of the Bodhisattva as the Great Campassionate, which began to be manifest in Indian art during the Kusana period and reached its most expressive form in medieval time.^[6]

The Avalokitesvara with eight armed form, this image found in Phan Rang province Nanada Chutiwongs have been observed:

“Differs from the other depictions of Avalokitesvara in Champa not only in its iconography but also in its sculptural style. The body, for instance, is well-rounded and the entire form looks soft and supple, in contrast to the slender frame and frontal stance displayed by most of the Cham images of the Bodhisattva. The smooth, clinging dhoti, worn by this Avalokitesvara also belongs to a different mode of dress than that which is applied to most of his representations in the art of Champa.”^[7]

The scholar Emmanuel Guillon also observed:

“A group of bronze statuettes of Avalokitesvara, found at southern sites are from the late 8th or early 9th centuries, and display such close resemblance to Indo-Javanese technique and iconography that they have sometimes been classified as purely Javanese.”^[8]

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

N. Chutiwongs, The Iconography of Avalokitesvara in Mainland SEA, Delhi: 2002, p. 295.

[2]:

E. Guillon, Cham Art Treasures from the Da Nang Museum, VN, Bangkok: 2001, p. 66.

[3]:

E. Guillon, Cham Art Treasures from the Da Nang Museum, VN, Bangkok: 2001, p. 125.

[4]:

See the picture.

[5]:

N. Chutiwongs, The Iconography of Avalokitesvara in Mainland S.E.A, Delhi: 2002, p. 301.

[6]:

N. Chutiwongs, The Iconography of Avalokitesvara in Mainland S.E.A, Delhi: 2002, p. 301.

[7]:

Ibid, p. 302.

[8]:

E. Guillon, Cham Art, Treasures from the Da Nang Museum, VN, Bangkok: 2001, p. 66.