Antique Jeweled Buddha Jambupati, Burma/Myanmar (3286DOSE)

Description

Throughout Burma/Myanmar Shakyamuni-Buddha was depicted in lavish royal robes to illustrate the traditional story of King Jambupati and the BuddhaBuddha. In traditional Theravada Buddhism, Buddha-Statues are depicted in simple monks-robes as he renunciated worldly goods and desires and rejected his princely heritage. According to the legend, the haughty King Jambupati wished be the most powerful ruler in the world and threatened Buddha’s follower King Bimbisara. The Buddha appeal to Jambupati to forsake his evil ways and, when he refused, Buddha used his magical powers to turn himself into a “king-of-kings” (rajadhiraja). Overwhelmed by The Buddha’s magnificence, the king renounced his throne and attained enlightenment as Buddha’s disciple. Buddha Jambupati is depicted here as a  king-of kings in lavish gilt Burmese court attire and wears an elaborate gilt faceted crown with huge butterfly-shaped flanges. Buddha-Jambupati’s spiritual-and-inspirational brilliance is emphasized even more by the dazzling gilt covering his body and the small multi-colored bejeweled cut glass pieces inset on the fillet band, flanges, and his kingly garment. A large cone-shaped finial emerges from his ushnisha, and his pendulous ears frame his slightly smiling face. He looks directly at onlookers with to demonstrate his strong spiritual and material power while seated in padmasana with the left hand in his lap in the meditation (dhyana) mudra and reaches his oversized right hand with even-lengthened fingers to reflect Buddhist tenets over his knee to touch the earth in bhumisparsha, the Earth Witnessing hand gesture (mudra) to call the demon-king Mara, who sought to deny him his awakening, to witness his enlightenment. He sits on a very high multi-tiered throne with inset bands of cut glass rimmed by gold edges and set in a crimson base considered a sign of respect for his royal and spiritual position, especially in Southeast Asia where rulers had been revered as semi-divine figures. This story reinforces the belief that even the most powerful monarch must defer to and worship the Buddha, the “King of Kings.” This delicately carved statue with red and gold pigments covered in a thin lacquer coating is in excellent condition with almost all the lacquer and inset glass and mirror decorations extant, while the bottom of the throne is slightly jagged reflecting its age and use. Although there are many modern Burmese-Carvings of the Jambupati Buddha, fine antique ones extremely rare. This statue is part of the VA Spiritual-and-Inspirational Collection of Buddhist-Statues.