14
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Ratnasambhava, Akshobhya, Vairochana with attendants, Amitabha, and Amoghasiddhi, Top cover, from a Manuscript of the Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines (Ashtasahasrika Prajnaparamita-sutra) is a 14 unspecified by Unknown, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see five colorful Buddhas seated in a row, each with a different skin tone and hand gesture. Tiny attendants kneel beside them. This painting once protected a sacred manuscript in a monastery. The hand gestures—called mudras—are like secret codes; each one stands for a different teaching. The blue Buddha touches the earth to call it as witness, while the white one forms a circle with his fingers to show wisdom. If you like this, look up *eastern india, bihar, vikramashila monastery. paintings: nepal, kathmandu, indian art* for more works like it.
The inner side of the top cover is fully painted with images of the Five Cosmic Buddhas of Esoteric Buddhism. Each one has a different color, meaningful hand gesture, and is associated with a spatial direction. In the center is the white Vairochana holding his hands in the enlightenment mudra. On either side of the binding holes are the other four Cosmic Buddhas Akshobyha (blue, earth-touching mudra, east) and Amitabha (red, meditation mudra, west), and on the ends are Ratnasambhava (gold, gift-giving mudra, south) and Amoghasiddhi (green, fear-not mudra, north). The top side is covered with…
The Five Tathagatas could be the source of visions that would help Buddhist practitioners on the path to enlightenment.
Read the full account in the museum source.
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