Indonesia: A golden statue of Avalokitesvara from Jambi, Sumatra. Srivijaya Period (8th-12th century CE).

This four-armed, golden statue of Avlaokitesvara, the Buddhist 'Goddess of Mercy', was discovered at Rataukapastuo in Jambi, east-central Sumatra. A stronghold of Vajrayana Buddhism in pre-Islamic Sumatra, Srivijaya attracted pilgrims and scholars from other parts of Asia. These included the Chinese monk Yijing, who made several lengthy visits to Sumatra on his way to study at Nalanda University in India in 671 and 695, and the 11th century Bengali Buddhist scholar Atisha, who played a major role in the development of Vajrayana Buddhism in Tibet. Yijing reports that the kingdom was home to more than a thousand Buddhist scholars; it was in Srivijaya that he wrote his memoir of Buddhism during his own lifetime. PD image by Gunkarta.