Vairocana Buddha

CHINA; Tang dynasty

The statue portrays Vairocana Buddha wearing a robe that is bedecked with images from the Dharma realm. The figure stands with legs apart and hands in the abhaya (fearlessness) and varada (wish-granting) mudras. Characteristics such as the prominent usnisa, the patterned curls, the elongated earlobes, and the three lines on the neck are listed among the Buddha’s Thirty-Two Marks of Excellence. Most of the facial features are incised into the surface.
The robe is decorated with images of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, warriors, donors, and apsaras, as well as animals and plants. Numerous sources, such as the Biographies of Eminent Monks, mentions this type of statue as a good representation of a particular phrase in the Avatamsaka Sutra, “The Buddha’s body is present everywhere. Manifesting in front of every being.” The meaning behind this phrase is that what is seen in reality is, in fact, a reflection of the Buddha’s Dharma body.