Reclining Buddha

Buddha in parinirvana, Gandhara art, 2nd or 3rd century
Reclining Buddha of Galvihara at Polonnaruwa (Sri Lanka, 12th century)

A reclining Buddha is a statue that represents Buddha lying down and is a major iconographic and statuary pattern of Buddhism. It represents the historical Buddha during his last illness, about to enter the parinirvana. He is lying on the right flank, his head resting on a cushion or relying on his right elbow, supporting his head with his hand.

This pattern seems to have emerged at the same time as other representations of the Buddha in the Greco-Buddhist art of Gandhara.

Notable examples

The reclining Buddha of Zhangye
The reclining Buddha of the Hpo win caves

Burma:

Cambodia:

China

Pakistan:

India:

Indonesia:

Japan

Malaysia:

Sri Lanka:

Tajikistan:

Thailand:

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Ma Thanegi (February 2014). "Chaukhtutgyi Reclining Buddha Image" (PDF). My Magical Myanmar. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
  2. "http://www.dawn.com/news/1264290". External link in |title= (help)

Media related to Reclining Buddha statues at Wikimedia Commons

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/21/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.