The State Hermitage Museum: Exhibitions

Buddha Maravijaya - the"Buddha who vanquished Mara" - a name given in Siam to the episode in which Gautama called upon the Earth goddess to bear witness and gained victory over Mara, the lord of evil forces.
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The art of Siam. 14th-19th centuries

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Crowned Buddha Maravijaya

Late 15th - early 16th century

Bronze, gilding

Height: 55 cm

In depicting adornments, the Siamese sculptors copied the real-life jewellery and regalia of their rulers: necklaces and pectoral chains, bracelets on arms and legs, elaborately shaped crowns. The monastic uttarasanga covers all the adornments on the left arm and quite often only certain elements of them show through the material. The altar is formed by a lotus blossom lying on a six-sided pedestal. This is a typical detail of Lanna art of the late 15th century and first half of the 16th.

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Crowned Buddha Maravijaya
Larger view

Head of the Buddha
Larger view

Buddha Maravijaya - the "Buddha who vanquished Mara" - a name given in Siam to the episode in which Gautama called upon the Earth goddess to bear witness and gained victory over Mara, the lord of evil forces.
Pass to Glossary

Lanna - a state in the Far North of present-day Thailand that existed up to the late 18th century. It flourished from the second half of the 13th century to the middle of the 16th.
Pass to Glossary

Uttarasanga - the outer garment of a Buddhist monk, consisting of a long piece of cloth sewn from several strips. It is wrapped around the body in such a way as to cover both shoulders or only the left.
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