अवलोकितेश्वरमहायानबौद्ध धर्म सम्प्रदाय के सबसे लोकप्रिय बोधिसत्वों में से एक हैं। उनमें अनन्त करुणा है और धर्म-कथाओं में कहा गया है कि बिना संसार के समस्त प्राणियों का उद्धार किये वे स्वयं निर्वाण लाभ नहीं करेंगे। कहा जाता है कि अवलोकितेश्वर अपनी असीम करुणा में कोई भी रूप धारण कर के किसी दुखी प्राणी की सहायता के लिए आ सकते हैं।[1] महायान बौद्ध ग्रंथ सद्धर्मपुण्डरीक में 'अवलोकितेश्वर बोधिसत्व' के माहात्म्य का चमत्कारपूर्ण वर्णन मिलता है। चीनी धर्मयात्री फ़ाहियान ३९९ ई॰ में जब भारत आए थे तब उन्होंने सभी जगह अवलोकितेश्वर की पूजा होते देखी। [उद्धरण चाहिए]
भगवान् बुद्ध ने बराबर अपने को मानव के रूप में प्रकट किया और लोगों को प्रेरित किया कि वे उन्हीं के मार्ग का अनुसरण करें। अवलोकितेश्वरों में महत्वपूर्ण सिंहनाद की उत्तर मध्यकालीन (लगभग ११वीं सदी) असाधारण सुन्दर प्रस्तरमूर्ति लखनऊ संग्रहालय में सुरक्षित है।[2] अवलोकितेश्वर को अक्सर एक कमल का फूल पकड़े हुए दर्शाया जाता है और कथाओं में उनकी 'कमल-प्रकृति' का अक्सर वर्णन मिलता है जो किसी भी वातावरण में प्राणियों को सौंदर्य, सुगंध और उद्धार की ओर ले जाती है।[3]
तीसरी शताब्दी की गांधार शैली में निर्मित अवलोकितेश्वर प्रतिमा
भारतीय गुफाओं की भित्ति पर अवलोकितेश्वर का चित्र; अजन्ता गुफाएँ, ६ठी शताब्दी
Avalokitesvara, ca 11th-12th Century CE, Pala Period
Avalokitesvara, Pala period
1000-armed Avalokiteśvara dated 13th - 15th century AD at Saspol cave (Gon-Nila-Phuk Cave Temples and Fort) in Ladakh, India
Cambodian statue of Avalokiteśvara. Sandstone, 7th century CE.
Avalokiteśvara sandstone statue, late 7th century CE.
Padmapani holding a lotus. 8th-9th century Sailendran art, Plaosan temple, Java, Indonesia.
Eight-armed Avalokiteśvara, ca. 12th-13th century (Bàyon). The Walters Art Museum.
Avalokiteśvara from Bingin Jungut, Musi Rawas, South Sumatra. Srivijayan art (c. 8th-9th century CE)
The bronze torso Avalokiteshvara of Chaiya, 8th century CE Srivijayan art, Chaiya District, Surat Thani Province, Southern Thailand.
The Privy Seal of King Ananda Mahidol of Thailand show a picture of a Bodhisattva, based on a Srivijayan sculpture of Avalokiteśvara Padmapani which was found at Chaiya District, Surat Thani Province.
The stone head of Avalokiteśvara, discovered in Aceh. Srivijaya, estimated 9th century.
Malaysian statue of Avalokiteśvara. Bidor, 8th-9th century CE.
Chinese statue of Avalokiteśvara looking out over the sea, c. 1025 CE.
Chinese hanging scroll depicting Shancai, Avalokiteśvara and Longnü, Yuan Dynasty.
Standing Kannon Bosatsu (Avalokitesvara), 12th century, Heian period, Tokyo National Museum, Japan.
Senju Kannon by Tankei, 13th century, Sanjūsangen-dō, Japan.
Nyoirin Kannon, 1275, Tokyo National Museum, Japan
Korean painting of Avalokiteśvara. Kagami Jinjya, Japan, 1310 CE.
Nepalese statue of Avalokiteśvara with six arms. 14th century CE.
Avalokiteśvara of One Thousand Arms, lacquered and gilded wood. Restored in 1656 CE. Bút Tháp Temple, Bắc Ninh Province, Vietnam
Tibetan statue of Avalokiteśvara with eleven faces.
Japanese painting of Avalokiteśvara meditating. 16th century CE.
Tang dynasty (896 AD) carved stone statue of Qianshou Guanyin in Shengshui Temple (內江聖水寺) in Neijiang, Sichuan, China
The world tallest octagonal pavilion to shelter the Guanyin statue in Kek Lok Si in Air Itam, Penang, Malaysia.
Esoteric Cundī form of Avalokiteśvara with eighteen arms in Lingyin Temple in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China.
Thousand-armed Avalokiteśvara bronze statue from Tibet, circa 1750. Birmingham Museum of Art
Quan Âm (Avalokiteśvara) statue in the 18th - 19th centuries at the Vietnam National Museum of History, Hanoi, Vietnam
2 statues of Quan Âm (Avalokiteśvara) in the Nguyễn dynasty at the Vietnam National Museum of History, Vietnam
Quán Âm (Avalokiteśvara) figurine, Bát Tràng kiln, Hanoi, Nguyễn dynasty, 19th century AD, white glazed ceramic - Vietnam National Museum of History, Vietnam
Mongolian statue of Avalokiteśvara (Migjid Janraisig). Tallest indoor statue in the world, 26.5-meter-high, 1996 rebuilt, (1913)
Statue of Ruyilun Guanyin (Cintamanicakra) in the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum in Chinatown, Singapore.
Statue of Avalokiteśvara, date unknown, bronze and gold
Painting of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva. Sanskrit Astasahasrika Prajnaparamita Sutra manuscript written in the Ranjana script. Nalanda, Bihar, India. Circa 700-1100 CE
Qianshou Guanyin at Cham Shan Temple in Hong Kong, China
Qianshou Guanyin. Guanyin women's vihara, Anhui, China
Statue of Shiyimian Guanyin in Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery (萬佛寺) in Pai Tau Village, Sha Tin, Hong Kong
The wooden statue of thousand-armed and thousand-eyed Guanyin at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas in Ukiah, California.
The Silk Road: trade, travel, war and faithArchived 2016-04-26 at the वेबैक मशीन, Susan Whitfield, British Library, Serindia Publications, Inc., 2004, ISBN 978-1-932476-13-2, ... Avalokitesvara, the embodiment of compassion, is one of the most popular of the Mahayana bodhisattvas. The ability of Avalokitesvara to take any form in order to come to the aid of sentient beings is described in chapter twenty-five of the Lotus Sutra ...