Eastern Indian School of Mediaeval Sculpture c8.s2.2

c8.s2.2

The analysis of the Sādhanas proves that in Buddhistic ritual the different species of Bodhisattvas are divided according to the five divine or Dhyānī Buddhas. Thus Lokanātha, Lokeśvara or Avalokiteśvara is an emanation of Amitābha. He is supposed to be the presiding deity of modern Buddhism in the modern age. His period of domination over the universe began from the demise of Gautama Buddha and will end with the birth of Maitreya Bodhisattva. The number of multiplications of this Buddhistic deity can be judged from the fact that at least 108 different figures of this Bodhisattva are still worshipped in the Machchhendra Vahal in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. In the Eastern School of Mediæval Sculpture, figures of the Bodhisattva Lokanātha predominate over all others but the specimens discovered do not include all the 108 different species. This Bodhisattva can be distinguished at once by the presence of the divine Buddha Amitābha, by his head-dress and by the presence of a lotus with stalk in his left hand. The number of his hands varies and so do the attributes in each and every different case. We have three varieties of Lokanātha or Lokeśvara already identified :—