Reclining Buddha
A reclining Buddha is an image that represents Buddha lying down and is a major iconographic theme in Buddhist art. It represents the historical Buddha during his last illness, about to enter the parinirvana.[1] He is lying on his right side, 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 built the reclining Buddha inside the Wat Pho Temple then, decades later, they started making the sculpture everywhere in South East Asia.
![](../I/m/Galvihara-sunny.jpg)
This pattern seems to have emerged at the same time as other representations of the Buddha in the Greco-Buddhist art of Gandhara.
In Thai art
For Thai Buddha attitudes (Thai: ปางพระพุทธรูป; parang Phra phut ta roupe), the reclining Buddha (Thai: ปางไสยาสน์; paang sai yat) can refer to three different episodes, whilst the attribute of each remains unclear.
- Nirvana attitude (ปางปรินิพพาน; paang pari nipphan)
- Teaching the Arusin Rahu attitude (ปางโปรดอสุรินทราหู; paang proad asurin tra rahu)
- Sleeping attitude (ปางทรงพระสุบิน; paang song phra subin)
Notable examples
![](../I/m/Zhangye_Dafo_Si_2014.01.02_15-33-30.jpg)
![](../I/m/Monywa-hpo-win-d03.jpg)
![](../I/m/Buddha's_Nirvana.jpg)
![](../I/m/Reclining_Buddha_statues_of_Nanzoin.jpg)
- Winsein Tawya Buddha (Mawlamyaing) - 182.9 metres (600 ft)[3]
- Thanboddhay Pagoda (Monywa) - 101 metres (331 ft)[3]
- Myathalyaung Buddha (Bago) - 82 metres (269 ft)[3]
- Lawka Tharahpu Buddha (Dawei) - 73.6 metres (241 ft)[3]
- Chaukhtatgyi Buddha Temple (Yangon) - 66 metres (217 ft)[3]
- Shwethalyaung Buddha (Bago) - 54.8 metres (180 ft)[3]
- Manuha Temple (Bagan)
- Phowintaung, near Monywa
- 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 Kratié Province (on his right side)
- Bhamala Buddha Parinirvana which is 1,800 years old, oldest in the world.[4]
- Cave #26 of Ajanta
- Kongōbu-ji at Mount Kōya.
- Nanzoin temple, in Fukuoka Prefecture.
- Wat Chayamangkalaram in Pulau Tikus, Penang
- Sam Poh Tong Temple in Ipoh, Perak
- Wat Phothivihan in Tumpat, Kelantan
- Dambulla
- Gal Vihara in Polonnaruwa (12th century)
- Buddha of Ajina-Tepa (13 meters long), on display in the National Museum in Dushanbe
- Wat Dhammachaksemaram (reclining Buddha of the 7th century in Dvaravati style coming from Muang Sema)
- Wat Lokaya Sutharam in Ayutthaya
- Wat Pho of Bangkok
- Linh Son Temple in Sante Fe, Texas
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![](../I/m/Reclining-Buddha_at_Linh_Son_Buddhist_Temple_--_Santa_Fe%2C_Texas.jpg)
See also
References
- "The Discourse on The Great Parinirvana" (PDF). www.themindingcentre.org. p. 140. Retrieved 2018-12-07.
- "Guide to the Wild East of Cambodia – what to do and where to go in the Green Triangle".
- 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.
- "http://www.dawn.com/news/1264290". External link in
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