Very nicely made glass necklace with a pendant depicting the image of Guanyin.
Guanyin is the Chinese version of the bodhisattva also known under the names of Avalokiteshvara or Chenrezig, one of the most well-known and most highly regarded figures in the Buddhist group of "Eight Boddhisattva's".
In the iconography of Avalokiteshvara or Chenrezig he is mostly depicted as a male being, and also older depictions of Guanyin show him as such, but somewhere between the 8th and 10th century the depiction slowly shifted into her nowadays almost exclusively female version.
A bodhisattva is the name for a buddhist deity who has reached the state of bodhicita, but consciously chooses not yet to take that final step towards becoming a fully enlightened buddha. Instead choosing to stay close to the eartly realms to assist others on their paths, driven to do so out of a great sense of compassion.
And this characteristic is exactly what Guanyin / Avalokiteshvara embodies; the ultimate, selfless and unconditional compassion of the Buddha. The name 'Guanyin' can be roughly translated as 'the one who perceives all the sounds of the world', refering to the fact that she is said to hear and listen to all the prayers and pleas of mankind, always ready to come to the assistance, bringing comfort and solace.
Next to the more general characteristics that are ascribed to all relatives in the Guanyin - Avalokiteshavara - Chenrezig family, there are also some more specific features associated with Guanyin. For example as a goddess of the sea or as 'Songzi', the 'child-giver'; an aspect in which she is prayed to for blessing families with healthy children and especially male heirs.
This nicely detailed depiction of Guanyin is made on a pendant of semi-transparent glass. It hangs on a necklace made with transparent glass beads, strung alternately with tiny yellow glass beads on yellow macrame cord.
Sizes; total weight of the necklace is approximately 42 grams. The pendant is approximately 50 millimeters high and 40 millimeters wide and the glass beads have a diameter of 5 millimeters.
Multiple ones available, sold per piece.
