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Lot Essay
Padmapani, the "Holder of the Lotus," is a form of Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion.
While later Kashmiri and Nepalese figures of Padmapani depict him standing, most Swat Valley sculptures show him seated with his leg raised and his right hand drawn to his shoulder or chin. The prototype for this pose is the "pensive bodhisattva" that emerged in Gandhara in the early centuries CE. One interpretation identifies these figures as the Prince Siddhartha himself, who in watching the plowing of his father's fields, began to meditate on the suffering of all beings. The serene pose of these figures, articulating the compassion shown by the young Buddha, naturally suited depictions of the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, with the inclusion of the lotus as an identifying iconographic symbol.
While later Kashmiri and Nepalese figures of Padmapani depict him standing, most Swat Valley sculptures show him seated with his leg raised and his right hand drawn to his shoulder or chin. The prototype for this pose is the "pensive bodhisattva" that emerged in Gandhara in the early centuries CE. One interpretation identifies these figures as the Prince Siddhartha himself, who in watching the plowing of his father's fields, began to meditate on the suffering of all beings. The serene pose of these figures, articulating the compassion shown by the young Buddha, naturally suited depictions of the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, with the inclusion of the lotus as an identifying iconographic symbol.