Juhoji Temple: Statue of the Thousand-Armed Kannon 寿宝寺：千手観音立像

Official explanation

This statue of the Thousand-Armed Kannon Bodhisattva was made in the latter half of the Heian period (794–1185) from one single piece of wood. Kannon Bodhisattva, the avatar of mercy, is the deity venerated at Juhoji Temple. This is one of only three Thousand-Armed Kannon statues in all of Japan that actually have one thousand hands. In addition to the main three pairs of hands, twenty hands are carved on both sides of its body holding various items such as moons, suns, swords, arrows, mirrors, clouds, and bones, embedded in an array of additional hands. There was once an eye etched onto each hand. It was believed that Kannon has many eyes to discover suffering and many hands to relieve it. At 180 cm tall, Juhoji Temple’s Kannon statue has a significant presence. Because of the ink framing its eyes, eyebrows, chin, and mouth, its expression appears to change, from soft to stern, feminine to masculine, in different lights.

出典: 地域観光資源の多言語解説文データベース（観光庁） — www.mlit.go.jp/tagengo-db. この英語解説文は観光庁の地域観光資源の多言語解説整備支援事業で作成しました。
Source: Japan Tourism Agency, Multilingual Explanation Database. This English text was produced by the Japan Tourism Agency's multilingual explanation project and is shown unedited. Opening hours and services may have changed since it was written.