Buddha Calling the Earth to Witness
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.This meditating Buddha was recovered in the northeastern province of Buriram, near the Cambodian border, and may be the product of Dvaravati-influenced workshops in that region. The early moated settlement of Muang Fai is one possibility. He is seated in the full-lotus posture, his right hand, in bhumisparshamudra, touches the ground to summon the earth goddess to witness his resistance to the temptations cast in his way immediately prior to his awakening. The sculpture is among the earliest local depictions of this iconography, which became ubiquitous in later Southeast Asian Buddhist art.
cat. no. 113
cat. no. 113
Artwork Details
- Title: Buddha Calling the Earth to Witness
- Date: 9th–early 10th century
- Culture: Northeastern Thailand
- Medium: Sandstone
- Dimensions: H. 33 1/8 in. (84.1 cm); W. 20 In. (50.8 cm); D. 8 1/4 in. (21 cm), approx. Wt. 377 lb.
- Classification: Sculpture
- Credit Line: Lent by National Museum, Bangkok (63/2510)
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art