Cleveland Museum of Art

Portable Buddhist Temple

Date

900s

Medium

Kaolin with traces of pigment

Culture

Eastern India, Bihar

Department

Indian and Southeast Asian Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

The large niches on each side contain scenes from the life of the Buddha. The first features his mother Maya after his miraculous birth. The second and fourth depict his triumph over the forces of evil that attempted to frighten and seduce him away from the path to enlightenment. The third scene takes place after he has established a monastic following and depicts his wife bringing their son to meet him. Kaolinite is a compacted mineral that approximates ivory in its ability to be carved with fine details. Visitors to sacred Buddhist sites would commission portable sculptures such as this to commemorate their pious pilgrimage.

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