Dharmachakra (Wheel of the Law)
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.The Wheel of the Law (dharmachakra) is the single most important symbol of Buddhism, denoting the Buddha’s First Sermon in the forest at Sarnath, where he set Buddhist Law (dharma) in motion. The wheel elevated on a pillar (dharmachakrastambha) is unique to the Mon territories of Thailand, and inscriptions from the Pali canon explicitly link them to the Four Truths of the Noble Ones—the subject of the First Sermon. The immediate prototypes for the Mon dharmachakrastambhas were those of Andhra Pradesh, southern India; enigmatically, there is no trace of such large pillar-mounted wheels having existed elsewhere in Buddhist Southeast Asia.
cat. no. 123
cat. no. 123
Artwork Details
- Title: Dharmachakra (Wheel of the Law)
- Date: 8th century
- Culture: Central Thailand
- Medium: Sandstone
- Dimensions: H. (incl. tenon) 49 in. (124.5 cm); W. est. 38 3/16 in. (97 cm); D. est. 11 13/16 in. (30 cm); approx. Wt. 2063.5 lbs (936 kg); Tenon/Tang: approx. H. 6 in. (15.2 cm)
- Classification: Sculpture
- Credit Line: Lent by Phra Pathom Chedi National Museum, Nakhon Pathom, Thailand (11/2524)
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art