Shakyamuni Buddha (9 inch)

Shakyamuni Buddha is the founder of the Buddhist religion. He lived and taught in India in the sixth century B.C.E., a time of burgeoning religious and philosophical thought from Greece to China. Shakyamuni, (Sanskrit: Sage of the Shakyas) epithet applied to Gautama Buddha. In this sublime and exceedingly rare early medieval depiction of the historical Buddha he is seen seated in a yogic meditation posture, with his right hand lowered and gesturing to the Earth Goddess at the moment prior to his enlightenment, when he steadfastly resistance all the temptations of desire. He displays a number of the auspicious marks of Buddhahood (lakshanas): the extended earlobes, which serve to remind the viewer of the Buddha’s former princely status; the three rings on the neck; the forehead mark (urna, a curl of hair according to texts); and the highly pronounced skull protuberance (ushnisha). The presence of a flame-like projection surmounting the ushnisha is a rare and significant feature, for alt