36 Senju Kannon

Its official name is “Thousand-Hand, Thousand-Eyed Kannon.” As the name suggests, this Kannon has a thousand hands, each with an eye in its palm.

This is believed to be an evolved form of the eleven-faced Kannon, and has eleven faces on its head.

This Kannon can be found throughout Japan, being one of the most popular of the variant Kannon forms. There are also similar ones, such as the Juntei Kannon and Fukuukensaku Kannon, which have many hands, but this one can be distinguished by the lack of eleven faces on its head. This is an all-powerful Kannon, with eyes attached to a thousand hands so as not to overlook people’s wishes.

The nameplate in the upper left corner of the photograph reads “Saigoku Sanban,” which refers to Kokawa-dera Temple in Wakayama Prefecture. Tokuzo Yamada was determined to erect this Kannon such that those unwilling or unable to travel far to worship could pray at this statue instead.