Bodhisattva Raktalokesvara

Raktalokesvara is one of the thirty-one forms of Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara listed in the Sadhanamala. Depictions of this Bodhisattva are rare and hence add to the uniqueness of this image. His eyes are inlaid with silver and the lips with copper. A mrigajina (antelope skin) is drawn over the left shoulder, the antelope's head prominently seen as a silhouette on the arm-pit. Noticeable, however, is his gesture of opening the petals of the lotus held at the breast. The opening of each petal of the lotus held at the chest is symbolic of Buddha’s dharmachakra-pravartana-mudra.