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Buddha in Meditation

Southern Thailand

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 899

This meditating Buddha is among the earliest expressions in peninsular Thailand of a southern Indian–Sri Lankan style filtered through a local aesthetic. It exemplifies the early stylistic development of Buddhist art in the region, probably from the late sixth to the mid-seventh century. It relates to the meditating Buddhas produced in Sri Lanka during this period. The sculpture is beautifully proportioned and rendered, with a strong sense of asceticism. The Chaiya region was, and remains, renowned for its forest-monk tradition, which it shares with Sri Lankan Buddhism in which asceticism is highly revered.

cat. no. 42

Buddha in Meditation, Sandstone, Southern Thailand

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