“MUDRA”

Hand gesture

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    A mudra is a bodily posture or symbolic gesture. In Buddhist iconography every buddha is depicted with a characteristic gesture of the hands. Such gestures correspond to natural gestures (of teaching, protecting, and so on) and also to certain aspects of the Buddhist teaching or of the particular buddha depicted.

Kaniska reliquary casket

Kanishka relic casket is made to hold theubuddhist relics placed in the immense stupa built by kanishka at peshawer.

In the center of the lid , the buddha is seated between two hindu gods ,brahma and indra.

Buddhas right hand is raised between two hindu gods “brahma and indra.

The raised right hand is the “fear not”(abhaya)

The attendant gods hold their hands in the anjali (worship) mudra.

Kanishka relic basket is the earliest work to combine the hindu deities as attendants of the buddha, with the adoption of purely classical motifs.

The goose is the vehicle by which the deity thought csable of travelling to all places, an idea approaching omnipresence.

The children running in the garland encircle the casket.

Above the loops of the garland are the images of the buddha and between figures representing the sun and the moon

Standing buddha Gandhara

Gandhara the meeting of buddhist thought and roman sculptural greco-style resulted in a sytle that gave the features of apollo to gautama but the surfaces seem harder and the drapery more geometrically regimented into parallel ridges.

Gandhara buddha’s wear roman syle robes. The gandhara roman style figures ,with their

oval faces, long straight noses , high-arched eyebrows ,cupid-bow lips and hard drapery, are very different from the round faces ,broad noses, round eyes, and body revealing ”wet” indian drapery of the mathura style.

Gandhara, Bodhisattva

It is also a splendid example of the meeting of of roman realism and indian conceptualization.

Before the the strong western influence, there were no images of buddha or bodhisattvas, but in the kushan dynasty indian ideas were given visualization through roman forms.

The bodhisattvas stand s with his weight on his left foot, his right knee sligthly bent. His face is is that the apollo ideal but with the addition of a moustache.

His hair is tied in a bow , a greek hairstyle like that of the apollo Belvedere in the vatican collections,. Except for the jewelry, he is nude above the waist.

His earings are helenistic and his wide , flat necklace across his upper chest is roman.

The upper arms have heavy armlets and on the left arm , a completely non indian illusion of the material of the upper garmet ( the long scarf) gives us the sense that the bracelet shows through the cloth that covers it.

The lower garment( dhoti) seems to take satisfaction in maintaining its own autonomy and it defies gravity by splaying its folds like fans.

The left arm is bent at the elbow and the broken hand probably held a small water bottle in the manner of bodhissatva this would identify him as the same bodhissatva, maiterya, the buddha of the future.

A comparison of these two figures reveals the basic indian and westernized versions of the bodhissatva.

Gandhara sculptures were placed against walls and formed par of architectural adornment of the stupa bases or of vihars.

Both sculpture and architectecture were painted and gilded.

Abhaya Mudra

Abhaya in Sanskrit means fearlessness. Thus this mudra symbolizes protection, peace, and the dispelling of fear.

It is made with the right hand raised to shoulder height, the arm crooked, the palm of the hand facing outward, and the fingers upright and joined.

The left hand hangs down at the side of the body.

. Dhyana mudra

 The Dhyana mudra may be made

with one or both hands. When made with a single hand the left

one is placed in the lap, while the right may be engaged elsewhere. The left hand making the Dhyana

mudra in such cases symbolizes the female left-hand principle of

wisdom. Ritual objects such as a text, or more commonly an alms bowl symbolizing renunciation,

may be placed in the open palm of this left hand.

 

The five extended fingers in this

mudra symbolize the following five

perfections:Generosity

MoralityPatience

EffortMeditative

concentration

The most important mudras are:

1.)Dhyani Mudra

The right hand, resting on top, symbolizes the state of enlightenment; the other hand, resting below, the world of appearance. This gesture expresses overcoming the world of appearance through enlightenment, as well as the enlightened state of mind for which samsara and nirvana are one.

Hand Mudras - Symbols of Deeper MeaningThe symbolic gestures of the hands of Buddha images, called mudras, are picture tools of identification of deeper meaning

Dharmacakra Mudra

Abhaya Mudra

The Gesture of Fearlessness

(Abhaya Mudra) the right hand slightly elevated, the palm turned outwards, also called the Gesture of Renunciation.

Vitaka Mudra

The Gesture of Debate explaining the Buddha’s teachings (Vitaka Mudra) with the hands raised and the tips of the forefingers and the thumbs touch each other.

Namaskara Mudra

The Gesture of Prayer (Namaskara Mudra) with the palms folded together

Thank you!!!

Reported by: Jenica April Cahayom