'Seated Amida, the Buddha of the Western Paradise, as displayed at the Sainsbury Centre, Norwich, photograph by author
This week, we visited the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts as part of the course. The Sainsbury Centre is an art gallery and museum located on the University of East Anglia campus. The building, which contains a collection of world art, especially the Centre, has an extensive collection of Japanese art from various historical periods.
The 'Seated Amida' caught my eye among the many works of art. This 'Seated Amida' was made of gilt bronze in Japan during the Kamakura period (AD 1185-1333).
The critical aspect of this sculpture is the figure's back is open and hollow, and the right arm is detachable and held in place by a metal pin. A metal nail (circled in yellow shown in the photograph) is visible on the right wrist, above which is a pierced hold on the fabric's left side. The metal pin in the sculpture conveys that the different parts of the Buddha were made separately, connected to the main body of the sculpture by nails and pins. The joints of the sculpted body coincide with the joints of the human body and seem to anticipate the potential for movement, i.e., the ability to move his hand and wrist and touch devotees.
I have learnt that the different postures of a buddha have different meanings. The sitting Buddha is the most common representation of the Buddha. These Buddha statues can represent teaching, meditation, or an attempt to reach enlightenment. And hand gestures, or mudras, are essential in determining what a sitting Buddha means. Amida, in the photograph above shown seated in a meditative posture with folded legs and his right hand held in bhumisparsha mudra and his left hand held in the Abhaya mudra.
Buddha who held the bhumisparsha mudra (translated as the earth-touching gesture) is commonly known as the 'earth-witness' Buddha; this gesture represents the moment of the Buddha's awakening as he claims the earth as the witness of his enlightenment. The Abhaya mudra is the open right hand, palm out, fingers pointing up, raised to about shoulder height. Abhaya represents the accomplishment of enlightenment and signifies the Buddha immediately after he realises enlightenment.
Before writing this post, I only had minimal knowledge about Buddhism. Buddhism has never been an interest in my time studying Japanese Culture. However, after visiting the SCVA and researching for this post, I gain some knowledge and interest in Buddhism. I discovered .many interesting facts and details about Buddhism and the different meanings of Buddha's posture and hand gestures.
References
The Meaning of Mudras in Buddhist Art and Iconography
Buddha Statues: Meaning of Postures and Poses
Early Chinese Buddhist Sculptures as Animate Bodies and Living Presences
Very insightful article, Bianca! Are there any different meanings for the Buddhas' postures in different times and different regions? And if so, what do you think brought that differences?
Great post Bianca, I was wondering if you found any other similar statues or sculptures which allowed for ranges of movement or gestures and if there was any particular ceremony or activity in which these movements would be used for?