Two Bodhisattvas, sculpture collection Rijksmuseum

In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a person who can reach the state of enlightenment, but chooses to stay on earth to help others in their pursuit of this spiritual knowledge. The crown of the bodhisattva from China is decorated with a seated Buddha, by which he can be identified as Avalokiteshvara, god of mercy. The other bodhisattva resembles a young monk, and is therefore Ksitigarbha, saviour of the dead.