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.
Pass to Glossary

Buddhism and the life of the Buddha

Buddha Stopping the Sandalwood Statue

Bangkok

Second quarter of the 19th century (?)

Bronze, gilding

Height: 50 cm

The abhayamudra performed with the left hand was interpreted from the Ayutthaya period onwards as the "Buddha Stopping the Sandalwood Statue". This is an allusion to the legend that the only statue made of the Buddha in his lifetime was carved from sandalwood on the orders of the king of Kosala, so as to ease that monarch's sadness over the absence of the Buddha himself, who had gone to heaven to visit his deceased mother. When the Buddha returned, the statue came to life and moved towards him to greet him. With a raised hand he ordered the statue to stop and henceforth to serve as a model for future venerators and sculptors. The only decoration present is narrow bands of ornament - such a device is fairly rare in Bangkok art.

Buddha - "the enlightened one" - an epithet given to Prince Siddhartha of the Shakya tribe after he attained a state of boddhi, "Enlightenment", when he grasped the Sublime Wisdom. The founder of Buddhism, one of the three ancient Indian religions.
Pass to Glossary

Abhayamudra - a gesture of soothing or protection: the right arm is
bent at the elbow, the hand raised to shoulder level, palm outwards
and fingers together.
Pass to drawing