Ishiidera Temple: Medicine Buddha Triad

JAPAN, Nara, Sakurai; Hakuho period

The sculpture has been identified as the earliest stone Medicine Buddha of its era in Japan and is listed as an Important Cultural Property.
The figure of the Buddha and two identical attendants are carved in mid-relief on a triangular block of hard sandstone. The Buddha sits with knees apart and feet resting on a lotus. The figure is dressed in a monastic robe that leaves the right shoulder bare and the hands are in dhyana (meditation) mudra. The back of the seat connects with the mandorla while overhead there is a canopy. The attendants wear jewelry and stand on lotuses, their hands in anjali (reverence) mudra. The nimbus of the Buddha and the Bodhisattva to his right are double-layered, while the Bodhisattva on the left has only a single-layered nimbus. There is a vase at ground level to one side.