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. After the Buddha's death, his followers decide to build a statue of him lying down. They first build the Reclining Buddha statue inside of the Wat Pho Temple then decades later; they start making the sculpture everywhere in South East Asia.

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
reclining buddha kratie
Golden gilded reclining Buddha at Sambok Mountain in Kratie, Cambodia[1]

Burma:

Cambodia:

  • West side of the Baphuon in Angkor
  • Monolithic Buddha of the Phnom Kulen (lying on his left side)
  • Golden gilded Buddha on Sambok Mountain in Kratie Province (to his right side)

China

Pakistan:

  • Bhamala Buddha Parinirvana which is 1,800 years old, oldest in the world.[3]

India:

Indonesia:

Japan

Malaysia:

Sri Lanka:

Tajikistan:

Thailand:

References

  1. ↑ "Guide to the Wild East of Cambodia – what to do and where to go in the Green Triangle".
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Ma Thanegi (February 2014). "Chaukhtutgyi Reclining Buddha Image" (PDF). My Magical Myanmar. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
  3. ↑ "http://www.dawn.com/news/1264290". External link in |title= (help)

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