Exquisite Hand-Carved Buddha Statues

Avendales is pleased to offer collectors and religious practitioners alike a line of exquisitely hand-carved Buddha statues. These Buddha statues are brought to you from village communities all over the countryside of Thailand. These statues are marketed in accordance with the principles and practices of Fair Trade, adding strict quality control and professional organization, using profits to help Thai artisans maintain their traditional skills.

Theravada Buddhism has been the predominant religion in Thailand since early recorded history. For over 2500 years the people of Thailand have followed the peaceful and self-reflective teachings of the Buddha, or "Dharma", which evolved directly out of the "dharma" of Hinduism, which in that context is "the way things work". These teachings inform all parts of the society within the kingdom, uniting the Thai people into a harmonious whole.

One fine choice is the Large Standing Japanese Buddha Statue. Standing five feet high and weighing 25 pounds, this statue embodies that time in the 6th century when Buddhism was imported to Japan from China and Korea in the form of a present from the friendly Korean kingdom of Kudara (Paikche).

At this time, although Buddhism was welcomed by the ruling nobles as Japan's new state religion, it did not initially spread among the common people due to its complex theories. During the Nara Period of the 8th century, the great Buddhist monasteries in the capital city of Nara, such as Todaiji, gained strong political influence. This problem of politically ambitious and militant monasteries remained a main issue for the governments over many centuries of Japanese history. The Large Standing Japanese Buddha Statue takes one back to those turbulent times.

Another exquisite offering of Buddha statues is the Sitting Royal Mandalay Buddha Statue. 20 inches tall and weighing 22 pounds, this statue is made in the classical Mandalay Buddha style. A broad band stretches across the forehead, and the hair hugs the head in tight curls and covers a broad prominent ushnish (a Sanskrit word referring to the protuberance at the top of the head of a Buddha Rupa representing the flame of supreme illumination). There is no lotus finial above.

The images are frequently seated in vajrasana (a Yoga posture designed to remove drowsiness, strengthen the spine, help digestion, and enhance meditation) with the right hand in the bhumisparsa mudra and the left lying in the lap. The uttarasanga (the upper robe of the Buddhist monastic garment, the "triple robe" or tricivara) is worn in the open mode and the sanghati (the outer robe of this garment) is folded decoratively on the left shoulder.

This "Mandalay" style of Buddhist statue developed towards the end of the eighteenth or in the early nineteenth century. Mandalay was the last capital (1860–1885) of the last independent Burmese Kingdom before annexation by the British after the Third Anglo-Burmese War in 1885.

In addition, one can choose a Sitting Thai Buddha Statue. 16 inches high and weighing nearly 20 pounds, this statue features the flame of Illumination rising up from the Buddha's seventh or Crown chakra at the top of the head. This statue embodies the Theravada Buddhism of Thailand.

One of the best pieces is the Large Standing Royal Ayuddhaya Buddha Statue. Five feet tall and weighing 25 pounds like the aforementioned standing Buddha statue, this work of art embodies the "illuminated royalty" of ancient Thailand. The inscription of King Ramkhamhaeng the Great (1292) mentions that a monk from the southern province of Nakorn Sri Dhammaraja — who had studied the Pali Buddhist Canon (or Tipitaka) from beginning to end — lived at the Forest Temple in the kingdom of Sukhothai and was the Supreme Patriarch (Pali sangharaja) of the monkhood. This statement is one of the earliest statements used by a king to legitimize his right to rule in accordance with Buddhist righteousness.

The "New Style" Large Reclining Mandalay Buddha Statue shows the divine one in much-deserved and sublime repose. Five feet tall and weighing 25 pounds, this statue embodies a Buddhist prophecy for Burma.

Unlike other Burmese towns, Mandalay did not grow from a smaller settlement, although a small village Hti Baunga did exist nearby. Mandalay was set up in an empty area at the foot of the 775 ft high Mandalay Hill according to a prophecy made by the Buddha that in that exact place a great city, a metropolis of Buddhism, would come into existence on the occasion of the 2400th jubilee of Buddhism. Allegedly this is precisely what happened.

These and other beautiful Buddhist statues are carried by Avendales for enhancing your home or office artistically, historically, or spiritually.

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