Artwork Page for Buddha Calling on Earth to Witness

Details / Information for Buddha Calling on Earth to Witness

Buddha Calling on Earth to Witness

800s

Northeastern India, Bihar, Tetravan, Pala Period

(750-1197)
Medium
chloritic schist
Measurements
Overall: 94 cm (37 in.)
Credit Line
Dudley P. Allen Fund 1935.146
Public Domain
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Location
243 Indian and Southeast Asian
Print
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Did You Know?

The donors kneel at the lower corners.

Description

This sculpture is one of a series that depict the Buddha at different scenes in his life. Here, he is at Bodhgaya, the place where he achieved enlightenment. At the top of the composition are the branches of the ficus tree with its heart-shaped leaves, under which he achieved enlightenment. His hand gesture indicates that he is calling upon the goddess of the earth to witness the moment. During the Pala period of the eighth through 12th centuries in medieval India, Buddhism dominated and flourished in major monastic universities. After the fall of the Pala dynasty, the numerous battles between small kingdoms vying for power caused the destruction of the Buddhist monasteries, and Buddhist monks fled with texts and movable art to Nepal, Tibet, and Southeast Asia, so that by the 14th century, Buddhism was eradicated in India.
Black, rock sculpture shaped like an oval with a squared base depicting the Buddha seated cross-legged on a lotus pedestal, his left hand placed, palm up, in his lap and his right draped over his right knee. Two standing figures a fourth his size flank him and two float above. Three even smaller animal-like creatures sit in three chambers below the pedestal, flanked by two kneeling people, palms pressed together in front of their chests.

Buddha Calling on Earth to Witness

800s

Northeastern India, Bihar, Tetravan, Pala Period (750-1197)

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