The Roles of Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara in Angkor : Focusing on Descriptions in the Kāraṇḍavyūha-sūtra (Sophia Cambodia Studies)

IntroductionOn viewing the Angkor period that flourished from the 9 th to the 15 th century in Southeast Asia, we realize that it was at the time of Jayavarman VII (1181-1218) that the empire occupied the most extensive area.This monarch who was an adherent of Mahyna Buddhism, especially Bodhisattva Avalokitevara, constructed among other things hospitals, royal roads, and rest houses etc..The Radiating Avalokitevara of the Kraavyha-stra (below KVS) was discovered only in the Bayon style (the late 12 th to the early 13 th century, during the reign of Jayavarman VII), and this statue possesses a characteristic icon revealing a small Buddha in the area of the chest (Pl.1).The KVS is a text of Mahyna Buddhism of the 7 th century in northwest India, famous for the six-syllable "O maipadme h" (1) .This text is extant in Nepalese Sanskrit manuscripts, that number to about ninety Tsukamoto ed.1989: 143.Researchers focused on the Radiating Avalokitevara of the KVS during the period spanning the 12 th to the 13 th century, though there exists a stele (Khmer inscription, K.1154) of the older century, namely the 10 th century (2) , revealing the six-syllables and representing the Avalokitevara on its backside.He has eight arms, with the lower-most shown in the varada-mudr (3) .