The Japanese scholar Shu Hikosaka on the basis of his study of Buddhist scriptures, ancient Tamil literary sources, as well as field survey, proposes the hypothesis that, the ancient mount Potalaka, the residence of Avalokiteśvara described in the Gandavyuha Sutra and Xuanzang’s Records, is the real mountain Potikai or Potiyil situated at Ambasamudram in Tirunelveli district, Tamil Nadu.
Murals found there depicted two important Buddhist mythological figures, Hariti and Avalokitesvara, draped in cloth with Sassanian designs on.
Some people believe that this dhāraṇī is told by the Eleven-Faced Avalokitesvara, an esoteric bodhisattva in Tibetan Buddhism, and that it is the equivalent Tibetan version of The Great Compassion Mantra in Mahayana Buddhism.
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Alternatively, the sutra's title has been translated as the Eleven-Faced Avalokitesvara Heart Dharani Sutra by Professor Ryuichi Abe.
The Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, being worshiped as a curer of diseases, the tradition of distributing herbal preparations on New Year day was conducted here until recent times.
Om mani padme hum, a mantra particularly associated with the four-armed Shadakshari form of Avalokiteśvara
The Tōdai-ji Shuni-e ceremony was originally started by Jitchū, a monk of the Kegon school, as a devotion and confession to the Bodhisattva Kannon（Skt: Avalokiteśvara).
The peaks are seen as emanations of the three boddhisatvas Chenrezig, Jampayang and Chenadorje, with Chenrezig being the highest peak at 6032 meters above sea level.