Standing Maitreya – The Future Buddha
  See it in the Museum
India and Nepal
Orientation 3
Display 2

ABS 366

 Code: ABS 366

  Country: India (north-west)

  Style: Utpala Dynasty

  Date: 850 - 1050

  Dimensions in cm WxHxD: 15

  Materials: Brass

Standing Maitreya – The Future Buddha

Maitreya, or Champa in Tibetan, is the Future Buddha prophesised by the historical Buddha Shakyamuni to succeed him when all Buddhist teachings will have completely disappear from our world. He is said to have replaced Shakyamuni in the highest heaven, waiting for his time to come. Maitreya is also considered one of the eight principal bodhisattvas, embodying loving kindness. For this reason, he can appear as a Buddha, under the guise of an ascetic, or as a bodhisattva (see ABS 019), dressed with the royal attire.

Maitreya stands gracefully in a slightly bent attitude on a double lotus pedestal with elongated petals placed on a square base. His right hand is raised in the gesture of protection, and with his left extended hand, he displays the gesture of generosity. The upper monastic garment is draped in symmetrically distributed narrow folds and covers both shoulders. The lower garment is visible. The Buddha is set against an oval aureole decorated with rays.

The stupa on top of his aureole allows is identification. His eyes and the urna are inlaid with silver, a characteristic of kashmiri works of art of the 9th/10th centuries.

This statue was formerly part of the collection of Heidi and Ulrich von Schroeder, 2017-01.