Seated Laotian Buddha

Description

This seated Buddha reminds us of similar seated Buddhas in the Bhumisparsha Mudra at the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, Wat Phra Kaew in Laos. While the famous Laotian Emerald Buddha now resides in a temple of the same name in Thailand, the original site has a gallery of beautifully cast 18th Century bronze Buddhas like this piece. With downcast eyes, elongated ears, pronounced curly hair and a striking flame finial sprouting from the Buddha’s ushnisha, we see beautifully rendered Laotian style. This Buddha has an extremely bright face with upturned lips and smiling eyes. He manifests the Buddha’s joy upon liberation from the cycle of death and rebirth. Seated with the right hand fingers touching the ground in the Bhumisparsha Mudra, this gestures calls upon the Earth Goddess to witness the Buddha’s enlightenment.

The iconography of the Buddha in Laos follows specific rules with the belief that properly rendered images are emanations of the Buddha and possess supernatural qualities. Buddha images are not intended to be naturalistic representations of Gautama Buddha as his exact features are not known. Rather the statues represent an ideal reality. When creating a Buddha the artisan is expected to be in a spiritual mental state that will enable the envisioning of this ideal reality.

Welcome this smiling seated Buddha into your home that he might share with you the levity and peace of liberation.