Abhayagiri Vihara: Seated Buddha
Limestone
Abhayagiri Vihara: Seated Buddha
SRI LANKA, North Central Province, Anuradhapura
The statue, located on the east side of the monastery grounds, is believed to be among the oldest in Sri Lanka. It is famed for its depiction of the peacefulness of meditative concentration, and therefore is known as the Samadhi Buddha, or the Buddha in Deep Meditation.
The Buddha sits in half lotus position on a Sumeru throne of brick. The figure’s hair is arranged in shell-like curls and there is no usnisa. The ears are elongated and the eyes are lowered. The hands are held in the dhyana (meditation) mudra. Monastic simplicity is indicated by the plain robe, represented by a line running diagonally across the chest. When the British imprisoned Jawaharlal Nehru in 1940 for assisting Gandhi in his civil disobedience campaign, Nehru spent his days in the company of a photograph of this Buddha.
For more details, go to the Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Sculpture A-F, page 1.
Cite this article:
author = Hsingyun and Youheng and Lovelock, Yann and Chou, Yuan and Huntington, Susan and Edson, Gary and Neather, Robert,
booktitle = {Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Sculpture A-F},
pages = 1,
title = {{Abhayagiri Vihara: Seated Buddha}},
volume = 10,
year = {2016}}