Collection: Buy Hand Painted Avalokiteshvara Thangka (Chenrezig)

Choose your Avalokiteshvara thangka in 30 seconds

By budget

• Under about $320, a first Avalokiteshvara: the 10" x 10" mandala, the 14" x 19" and the 16" x 24" thangkas. Compact enough for a shelf, a desk or a small altar, and painted with the same care as the large ones.
• About $380 to $510, a statement piece: the 17" x 24" thangka and the 1000-arm Chenrezig. A fuller presence on a living room or meditation room wall.
• About $1,000 to $2,100, an altar centerpiece: the large 1000-arm paintings, some with the Five Dhyani Buddhas around him. Detailed enough to be the main image of a shrine room.
• Collector pieces, above $7,000: our most elaborate Avalokiteshvara, with the Five Dhyani Buddhas and other deities. A painting for a Dharma center, a monastery-style hall or a serious collection. Message us and we’ll send close-up photos and details before you decide.

By form

• The classic Avalokiteshvara: the compassionate bodhisattva, seated on a lotus. Choose it for a home altar, a first thangka or a gift.
• The 1000-arm Chenrezig: with eleven heads and a thousand arms, an eye in each palm. Choose it if you want the most powerful image of compassion in action.
• The mandala: a compact painting of Avalokiteshvara within his mandala, which suits a shelf or a meditation corner.
• Avalokiteshvara with the Five Dhyani Buddhas and other deities: a rich, full composition for a shrine room.

By purpose

• A home altar or meditation room: the classic four-arm or the 1000-arm form.
• A gift: the classic form in a mid-size piece. See our guide to thangka art as a gift for spiritual milestones.
• A Dharma center or collection: the large paintings, or a custom commission.

Prices on this page change with sales, so check the current price on each product. Use the price and size filters above to narrow the list. Tell us your budget and where it will hang, and we’ll point you to the right painting.

Avalokiteshvara or Chenrezig? The same bodhisattva

Many buyers search for both names, and they are the same bodhisattva. Avalokiteshvara is the Sanskrit name, and Chenrezig is the Tibetan name. You will find both in this collection, so there is no need to look elsewhere. He is the bodhisattva of infinite compassion, and the most loved of all the bodhisattvas in Tibetan Buddhism.

Why people choose Avalokiteshvara

• His mantra is the most widely recited in Tibetan Buddhism. Om Mani Padme Hum means the jewel of compassion in the lotus of wisdom. A thangka gives you a form to focus on while you recite it.
• He stands for compassion in daily life. A thangka of Avalokiteshvara is a reminder to practice kindness, calm and loving-kindness, especially in hard moments.
• The 1000-arm form tells a story. According to tradition, when he saw how endless the suffering of beings was, his head split in sorrow, and Amitabha Buddha gave him eleven heads to see all beings and a thousand arms to help them, each hand with an eye. It is an image that people remember.
• It suits almost any space. He is peaceful and easy to place in a living room, a study or a meditation corner.

A thangka supports reflection and practice, and it does not promise particular outcomes.

What to look for in a painting

• The classic form: a peaceful, white or pale bodysitting on a lotus, with a gentle expression. In the common four-arm form, two hands are joined at the heart holding a jewel, and the other two hold a lotus and prayer beads.
• The 1000-arm form: eleven heads stacked above one another, with Amitabha at the top, and arms spreading out like a halo, an eye in each palm.
• Lotus throne, halo and jewel ornaments: the marks of a bodhisattva.
• Fine detail: in a thousand-arm painting, every hand and eye is painted separately, which is why these paintings take our artists much longer and cost more.

Details vary between forms and between paintings. If your practice follows a specific form, tell us and we’ll paint it accordingly.

Why a 1000-arm thangka costs more

A thousand-arm Chenrezig thangka has many hundreds of hands, each with its own detail, and eleven heads. That is weeks of painting at the level of detail you see in the paintings above. It is the difference between a painting for a shelf and a painting for a shrine room, and it is why prices rise with size and detail. If you want to see the work before you buy, message us and we’ll send close-up photos.

Buy with confidence

• Painted by hand, never printed, by skilled artists in the traditional Tibetan way, with natural pigments. Meet our artists, or see how a thangka is made.
• Blessed by a monk before it leaves our gallery.
• A real gallery and a real address: our gallery is at Boudhanath Stupa in Kathmandu, and we have been operating since 1976. Read our story.
• Ask us anything before you buy. Message us on WhatsApp and we’ll answer questions, send close-up photos and recommend a size.
• Shipped worldwide with tracking and insurance, rolled and wrapped in protective silk. See our shipping policy.
• Clear policies. Read our refund policy before you order.
• Easy to verify. Our guide to authentic vs replica thangkas shows how to tell an original from a print.

Can’t find the right size or form?

We paint to order. Tell us the form (four-arm, 1000-arm, mandala, or with the Five Dhyani Buddhas), the size and the mounting you want, and we’ll paint it for you. A silk brocade mount gives the traditional border, and why brocade matters in a thangka explains the tradition. Start through our commission page, or message us on WhatsApp. For general advice, read how to choose the right Buddhist thangka, or try our Pick Your Thangka guide.

Displaying your thangka

Hang it at or above eye level on a clean, quiet wall or altar, never on the floor, and keep it away from bright sunlight, humidity and dust. Our Buddhist altar setup guide shows how to arrange the space.

Explore more

Avalokiteshvara appears with the Five Dhyani Buddhas and Amitabha in many paintings. See our Five Dhyani Buddhas thangkas and Amitabha Buddha thangkas, or our mandala art. For the other bodhisattvas, browse all of our Bodhisattva thangkas, and for the Buddhas, our Buddha thangka paintings.