The Mandalay Period represents the
last great cultural flourishing of
Burmese art. The period was named
after the city of Mandalay, which
served as capital of Myanmar for a
brief period (1860-1885 A.D.) during
the reign of King Mindon. After the
Anglo-Burmese Wars, northern Myanmar
was shut off from the coastal areas
that were controlled by the British.
King Mindon founded the new capital at
a sacred site at the foot of a large
hill. The center of the city was
designed in the perfect geometrical
form of a Buddhist Mandala, giving the
city its name. Although this short-
lived kingdom finally fell to the
British forces in 1886 A.D. during the
Third Anglo-Burmese War, the Royal
Guilds that created such remarkable
works of art for the King remained in
the city where they continued to
produce sculptures in the Mandalay
style.
Delicate marble sculpture of the
reclining
Buddha, one arm resting on his side,
the other
supporting the head slightly bent on
one side,
his face with a serene smile and the
eyes half
cast in meditation, his sanghati
softly draped. On
the plinth a small inscription.
In Buddhism, the parinirvana is the
final nirvana,
traditionally understood to be within
reach only
upon the death of someone who attained
complete enlightenment. It is the
ultimate goal of
Buddhist practice and implies a
release from the
cycle of deaths and rebirths as well
as the
dissolution of all mental aggregates
(form,
feeling, perception, mental
fabrications and
consciousness).The historical Buddha
is believed
to have died and reached parinirvana
(or Maha
Parinirvana) around 544 BC in the site
of
Kusinagar in India. Such event has
been depicted
copiously throughout East Asia and had
a
profound effect on the Hinayana
Buddhist
iconography of Thailand and Burma,
where very
large versions of the reclining Buddha
are
indeed to be found.
This image of the reclining Buddha
emanates a
sense of cultivation and grace. Its
polished
appearance and serenely reposed body
bespeaks
of the Buddha's exalted and
transcendental
existence. Propping the head with one
hand, the
Buddha rests its smoothened hair and
usnisa
facing forward with a tranquil
expression, at the
point of his final departure from his
earthly
existence. The features are well-
defined--
arched eyebrows, narrow eyes, long
nose,
delicate mouth and elongated earlobes.
This
reclining Buddha takes on a beautiful
form, with
soft curves and twists in the body
arranged to
convey the spiritual opulence and
transcendental
detachment of Buddhahood.
