A
Thai bronze Buddha Shakyamuni with legs crossed in dhyanasana, his hands in dhyana
and bhumisparsa mudras known as "calling the earth for witness" gesture. The image
is the emblem of enlightenment, which portrays the Historic Buddha's conquest
over Mara. The moment which when Shakyamuni achieved the state of universal consciousness.
Considering that the ultimate goal for every Buddhist practitioners are in attaining
total illumination of the mind (nirvana); naturally this moment of the Buddha's
life should have remained the most popular theme in variations of Buddha statues,
and particularly true for the Thai Buddhists and artists ever since the 14th century.
With
little influence from its Buddhist predecessors like the Indian or Chinese, the
Sukhothai sculpture is generally regarded as the most distinguish original Thai
aesthetic. The unique vision of Sokhothai art lies not in the invention of plastic
forms, but in its complete harmonious eclecticism in the perception of realism.
If the beauty of Sukhothai model is in its flowing lines and graceful contours,
then the power of the Sukhothai Buddha statue is revealed in its trance like quality...in
which the smooth surface of the bronze flickers like flame, and the silhouette
of the Buddha leaps like a fire.
Private Collection
