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Buddha

3rd century CE
Not on view
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.
This monumental standing Buddha, composed of limestone quarried near the major monastic site of Nelakondapalli, is among the largest and most complete recovered to date in the ancient territories of Andhra. The figure displays the four auspicious marks (laksanas) of Buddhahood: the spiral of hair on the forehead (urna), tight clockwise spirals of hair all over his head (all that remained after renouncing his royal status and cutting his hair), swelling of the cranium (usnisa), and distended earlobes, a legacy of the heavy jewelry he wore as prince. A fifth feature, the treatment of the eyes, is not described in Buddhist texts. However, observe how the pupils appear to roll back into the skull, indicating the Buddha is in a deep meditative state.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Buddha
  • Period: Ikshvaku
  • Date: 3rd century CE
  • Culture: India, Nelakondapalli, Khammam district, Telangana
  • Medium: Limestone
  • Dimensions: H. 47 in. (119.4 cm); W. 20 in. (50.8 cm); D. 9 in. (22.9 cm)
  • Classification: Sculpture
  • Credit Line: Lent by State Museum Hyderabad
  • Rights and Reproduction: Photo by Theirry Ollivier
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art

Audio

Cover Image for 680. Buddha

680. Buddha

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NARRATOR: You’re standing before a monumental image of the great teacher, the Buddha. Donald Lopez.

DONALD LOPEZ: The Buddha probably died around 400 BCE and for the first few centuries of the Buddhist tradition when the Buddha is depicted, he is absent. And then for reasons that are unclear, we see the Buddha starting to be depicted figuratively.

NARRATOR: This classic image of the Buddha is rendered in the south Indian style. The off-the-shoulder robe reflects the heat of southern India. Other key marks reflect universal signs of the Buddha. John Guy.

JOHN GUY: The image of the Buddha himself is marked by a series of what are called auspicious signs. These are the markings which distinguish a mere mortal from someone with enhanced powers. The Buddha is seen to have thirty-two such marks, and they include the forehead mark, the urna, which, as the texts tell us, is a curl of white hair between the eyes. The bump on the head, ushnisha, which is understood as a sign of wisdom very likely emanates from the way in which holy men would wear their hair. The tight curls of hair which are the direct legacy of that moment when the Prince Siddhartha the Buddha cut off his hair at the tonsure ceremony.

NARRATOR: Before you leave, pause and look at one final detail.

JOHN GUY: If you look closely at the eyes because the eyeball which is normally represented [LAUGHS] where it should be is not. It appears to be rolled up into the upper eyelid, and I would suggest to you that this detail which I’ve never detected before suggests that this Buddha is in deep meditation. This is a very curious feature and one which sets this Buddha apart as something very special.

NARRATOR: We leave this exhibition with a Buddha deep in meditation. He’s in a practice that takes us right back to the Bodhi tree, his place of enlightenment. We’re reminded of the symbols—the footprints, the figures, the trees and the serpents—that have shared the power and the story of the Buddha and Buddhist art since 200 BCE, and which continue to enchant viewers millennia after their creation.