Senju Kannon

Senju Kannon (千手観音), the Thousand-armed Kannon, embodies compassion that reaches every being at once. Each hand holds a different means of rescue, and in many images an eye sits in each palm, so that the bodhisattva both sees and helps. Senju is the most spectacular of the forms of Kannon and one of the most popular in Japan.

Japanese 千手観音, Senju Kannon; fully Senju Sengen Kannon, of a thousand hands and a thousand eyes
Sanskrit Sahasrabhuja Avalokiteśvara
Rank Bodhisattva
Recognise by A fan of many arms; eleven small heads on the crown; two hands joined in prayer at the chest
Realm Hungry ghosts, among the Six Kannon

Why forty-two arms

A literal thousand arms is rarely carved. The usual convention gives two principal hands joined at the chest and forty further arms, each saving the beings of twenty-five worlds, making a thousand in all. A few early images do attempt the full number: the dry-lacquer Senju of Fujiidera near Osaka, of the eighth century, has more than a thousand arms radiating like a halo.

What the hands hold

Among the attributes are the sun and moon discs, a jewel, a lotus, a bow and arrow, an axe, a sword, a rope, a sutra box, a vase, a rosary and a skull-staff. Each is a remedy for a particular need. A small seated buddha is often held above the head by two raised hands. See Attributes and Implements.

Senju in Japanese art

At Sanjūsangendō in Kyoto, one thousand standing Senju Kannon in gilt wood fill a hall more than a hundred metres long, around a great seated Senju completed by the sculptor Tankei in 1254. In front stand the Twenty-eight Attendants and the gods of wind and thunder, Fūjin and Raijin. The Senju of Kiyomizudera is the hidden principal image of that famous temple.

Collecting notes

  • Count and examine the arms. They are made separately and slotted into the body, and losses and replacements are almost universal on older figures.
  • The small attributes are easily lost. A figure with most of its attributes intact is notable.
  • Senju figures make a powerful focal point on a stand or in a zushi.

In the collection

Browse Senju Kannon figures and all Kannon. Our collector concierge can search Japan for a particular figure.

See also

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