Laksha-Chaitya – A Million Stupas
Description
Laksha-Chaitya pata is a symbolic offering of one hundred thousand chaityas (stupas) to the god. It is a name of a vrata or ritual observed by Buddhist devotees which involves the donation of one hundred thousand chaityas in the name of the deity.
This particular pata is devoted to Tathagata Vairochana, one of the five Dhyani Buddhas. He is seated on a lotus pedestal in dharmachakra-pravartana mudra (gesture of turning the wheel of law by the Buddha) flanked by a white Avalokiteshvara and a yellow Maitreya. Within the garbhagriha (main shrine) are seen four Taras in yellow, blue, green, and red. Personified figures of the moon riding a chariot drawn by seven geese are shown in the two vignettes. There are celestial beings in the four small vignettes. In small rectangles on the four sides are depicted the four Tathagatas- Amitabha (red), Amoghasiddhi (green), Akshobhya (blue), and Ratnasambhava (white).
An interesting feature of this pata is the depiction of Jataka, Avadana, and stories of the Buddha within rectangular frames immediately around the central stupa and on the extreme outer border.
Collection
Himalayan Art
Object Type
Painting
Material
Cloth
Schools/Culture/Period
--
Technique
Cloth Painting
Date
15th Century CE
Location
Nepal
Dimension
94 * 105 cms