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Buddha StatuesBuddha Statues are carvings of Siddhartha Gautama, known as the historical Buddha. You will love the quality and attention to detail that are put in to these statues, and you will find the perfect sculptures for your home or garden. Being a Theravada Buddhist from Thailand myself, I would proudly have any of these sculptures on our own altar table or in our garden. You will be happy to know that you can find the same Buddhist images on our site for less than half the price on other web sites. You will find stone, Metal, Wood and Resin carvings of Shakyamuni Buddha. There are many different Buddha Poses (known as attitudes or postures), and also the hands will depict a specific Mudra (hand gesture), which signifies an aspect of the Buddha. Materials Used In StatuesThese statues are made from a variety of different materials. In Thailand and India artists tend to prefer making metal sculptures, and many Buddha rupas are made of polished brass and have shiny gold color (similar to a trumpet or other brass musical instrument), and copper (generally darker, like the color of an aged penny). Stone carvings are more common from Bali, Indonesia, where lava stone is a very common material, but Indian stone figures will generally be made from lime stone or sand stone. Throughout much of Southeast Asia you can still find Wood Buddhist Carvings (usually Rosewood, Suar, or Mango wood), and Resin (which is usually painted or tinted a dark color) is also used, although it is most often used in Thai or Chinese figures. Less common materials are ceramics and porcelains, usually finished in white, which are common for Chinese style Statues (especially for Statues of the Bodhisattva Kuan Yin). Poses (Attitudes) and Mudras (Hand Gestures):Each traditional depiction of the Buddha, regardless of the medium, does have a particular pose with a symbolic meaning or asana (technically called an attitude in English) and an accompanying mudra, which is a symbolic hand gesture. This short guide should help you become familiar with the meaning. Postures and Hand GesturesOften, the meaning can be derived by the Attitude (posture), as well as the Mudra (hand positioning). For example, a Meditation Buddha would have both hands resting in the lap, palms facing upward. The legs would be crossed over one another, in what is called the Double Lotus pose (sometimes the legs are covered by a rose, so it is hard to determine the leg position). The eyes would be half open. This style of statue symbolizes inner peace, awareness and knowledge.A similar appearing statue is the Medicine Buddha, in which the Buddha sits with legs crossed, and the left hand resting in the lap, holding a small bowl with a Myrobalan plant growing in it. The palm of the right hand faces outwards with the fingers pointing down. This hand gesture symbolizes the Buddha granting a boon, or giving a bllessing to humankind. The most common pose for Thai style Statues is of "Calling the Earth to Witness." This image depicts the Buddha meditating under a tree while vowing to attain Enlightenment. Mara (often translated as the Devil), was trying to dissuade the Buddha from reaching enlightenment, and thus surrounded the meditating Buddha with demons disguised as beautiful maidens. The Buddha then touched the ground, Calling the Earth to Witness the Buddha's purity. The Earth Goddess, Wasunthara, then wrung out all the water from her hair, which flooded the demons away and allowed the Buddha to continue meditating until reaching Enlightenment. In Thailand (and possibly in Cambodia, Burma and Laos), there is a different pose for each day of the week. So for people born on a Monday, they would have a statue in one particular posture, while people born on a Tuesday would have a different Buddha Statue. Likewise, those people born on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, etc., would all have statues in different postures. Having said that, almost every Buddhist in Thailand would have at least one statue in the posture of Calling the Earth to Witness, and at lest one of the Buddha in Meditation, no matter which day of the week they were born. Where Should I Put My Statue?While their are many books and articles written on where to place your statue in the home for the best Feng Shui, we are not experts in that area, and can only provide you with a basic list of "Do's and Don'ts" for placing a statue in your home or garden.
A Brief Introduction to Depictions Of The BuddhaFor several hundred years after the Buddha entered Nirvana in 486 BCE, there were few, if any, sculptures or carvings depicting the historical Buddha. In fact, anthropomorphic images were quite uncommon, with artists preferring to depict Buddhist symbols instead. In temple carvings and artwork, the presence of the Buddha was "represented" by the depiction of spiritual objects closely associated with the religion, such as a lotus blossom. It wasn't until the Maurya Dynasty, when King Ashoka (about 273 to 227 BCE) had united most of the Indian subcontinent, did Buddhist art have an official patron. Prior to that, there were precious few statues or sculptures of any kind, as the Aryan people and their Vedic religion focused on written and oral works, but almost no sculptured pieces. Even then, Buddhist art from this period tended to be pillars or other non-human depictions. Gandhara Period StatuesBy the third century of the common era, the Gandhara style had developed, and artists were producing what is called "Greco-Buddhist" artwork. These statues had been directly influenced by Hellenistic arts, so it appears that statue making had been so minimal in the hundreds of years preceding this period that they had to "import" ideas from Greece (where Buddhism had spread) of how an image of the Buddha should look. As Gandhara is centered in the Northwest of India, and was a place were many invading armies had passed, it probably should not be too much of a surprise that early Buddhist art was heavily influenced by Persian and Greek forms. Contemporary of the Gandhara period were the Mathura and Amaravati styles, which also produced large amounts of Buddhist artwork. The Mathura style was also heavily influenced by foreign styles of art, while Amaravati sculptures were less so. The Classic Indian Buddhist SculptureIndian art historians look to the Gupta period, which spanned from approximately 320 to 550 CE, as the classic period of statue making. Buddhist art started to shed its Greek influence, and the Buddha was depicted looking more Indian like. At the same time, the images became more stylized - less emphasis was put on making a realistic portrait, and instead the focus was on producing a carving that looked like the subject was lost in a spiritual quest. Where Hellenistic art had been lifelike, the new Buddha's face had symmetric features, a calm expression, and details that were considered "nonessential" were left out. The favorite materials used in sculpture making from the Gupta period were sandstone, limestone and schist. Statue Styles from AsiaAs the Gupta period came to an end, Buddhism also was declining in India as well. It had to contend with a resurgence in Hinduism, as well as persecution from invading Muslim groups that eventually ruled almost all of present-day India. But as Buddhism declined in the land of its birthplace, it was on the ascension throughout much of East and Southeast Asia, and the Buddhist art produced in those countries could arguably rival any of that produced in the preceding years in India. The Sukhothai style of Buddhist art from Thailand, for example, is considered by many people to be the ultimate expression of the Buddha in sculpted form. Others will argue that Khmer (Cambodian), Japanese, Chinese, etc., styles are the ultimate artistic expression. But what almost everyone can agree on is that the statues and other art from each region have distinct characteristics. To the trained eye, it is easy to tell a Chinese statue from a Thai piece, or a Korean sculpture from an Indian one.
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