Udayagiri: Vairocana Buddha

INDIA, Odisha, Udayagiri

The relief is located in the courtyard of Temple I at Udayagiri. Some of the figures in the composition are carved in such high relief that they are almost freestanding. Vairocana wears a high cylindrical headdress with coiled locks of hair falling down the shoulders. The figure wears jewelry and a beaded sacred thread that hangs down the body from the left shoulder and runs across the lap. The Buddha sits in full lotus position on a lotus platform with the hands in the bodhyangi (wisdom fist) mudra.
A large plain nimbus encircles the Buddha’s head and is intersected at the top by two female figures sitting cross-legged on lotus thrones. The figure on the left holds a garland while the one on the right holds a torch. Two other female figures are found beneath the Buddha’s throne on either side of its stem. The one on the left holds incense burner while the one on the right holds a conch. The four figures are identified as Vajragandha, Vajradhupa, Vajraloka, and Vajrapuspa, all associated with the Diamond Realm mandala of which Vairocana is the central figure.