Buddha Statues Statue Buddhist Mandalay Images Antique Sale Buddha's

-Buddhist sites are always decorated with representations of the teaching of Buddha, it wont mater if the Buddha statues are antique and contemporary,

such as the footprint (the Buddha's impact) and the wheel (the Buddha's teaching described as the "wheel of law").

The most basic role of Buddha images and statues is to convey the good mood of calm that reflects mental discipline having control over negative emotions, fear and greed. The Buddha's serene images and statues sets an example for all Buddhists.

Buddha statues and other Buddhist art has an important impact in conveying teachings, especially in traditional societies. Classic postures are associated with particular lessons and events in the Buddha's life.

Production of religious Buddhist art has always a "merit making" component in it since it helps spread Buddhist teaching and relax people's mental suffering.

We not only show the nature of Buddha image and statues in relation to environment around them but also some relationship to relic.

Nobody know if worship of Buddha images and statues was sanctioned by the Buddha and if the dhamma or textual body of the Buddha is the higher or truer approach to his teachings.

Worship of objects has lead to practices of magic, miracles and misunderstanding in the past. Many highly respected monks and abbots in the Buddhist world were and are critical of image worship.

-About Buddha statues and images has been a lot written in the past,

here we combine this with Buddha pictures to approach it from the optical point of view.

Ancient Buddha statues today have quite a high money value, they are traded like other objects in antique shops all over the world and very prominently in the antique shops of Bangkok, Singapore and London. At London plenty of antique Buddha statues, images and sculptures are on display in shops around the big auction houses such as Sotheby's and Christie's.

All kind of Buddha images are there, ceramic Buddha statues, others made from wood, bronze, brass and even gold. Brass Buddha dealers in Burma or Myanmar are mainly in Mandalay at the vicinity of the Maha Muni temple and pagoda. Antique Buddha statues are mainly available at the antique shops in Yangon, Bogyoke Market, Mandalay and at Pyin Oo Lwin the former Maymyo close to Mandalay.

Contemporary and also large Buddha statues today are made from marble, jade, by woodcarving and other materials. Most antique Buddha figurines and other objects have been smuggled out of Cambodia, Thailand, Laos and Myanmar or Burma and brought to the global antique market.

But if you see a great antique Buddha statues for sale, in particular at Bangkok and Singapore, they are usually fake. But made in a very good way to look just like a ancient Buddha's statue.

Be very skeptical, even if this antique dealer present you all kind of certification papers, also this papers are mostly fake.

A very well known procedure, especially in Thailand is to take some old paper clean the surface and write something new onto it, if this is made orderly its really hard to distinguish it from originals.

Be aware that in most Asian countries it is strictly forbidden to export any antique Buddha images, statues and sculptures. If they catch you you end up in lousy Asian jail.

If you want to buy Buddha statues from different materials such as wood, marble, masonry, brass, bronze and jade there are several places to do so. The best is the Bogyoke Market in Yangon, Myanmar or Burma and the various handicraft manufacturers in the city. Mandalay would also be a excellent sourcing place, most of the workshops are around the Maha Muni Temple and Pagoda.

In Thailand the 3 main places to buy Buddha statues are, first Bangkok in the shopping centers and big hotels, notably around the Oriental Hotel and in the Four Season Hotel. Chiang Mai in northern Thailand is a excellent shopping area and not so expensive anymore. Along Kamphenphet Road are dozens of workshops with a sales in front.

In Phuket the best places to buy a wooden Buddha statues are the shops along the 2 Phuket Town main roads. You can find real great antiques to buy. Naturally there are not only wooden Buddha statues, they also have made from metal, marble and other materials.

Buddha Statue in a antique shop of a major hotel in Yangon Myanmar

But the real Buddha Statues manufacturing places are in Myanmar as explained above and Chiang Mai. At Singapore the best place to shop for antique Buddha statues is the Tangling shopping centers a little bit north of the Hilton Hotel, where they sell all kind of Buddha Statues and related items, but prices are very high.

A interesting place with reasonable prices for Buddha Statues and all kind of antiques from south east is Penang Georgetown, great place for shopping, there are also plenty of shops offering Indian artwork  statues and crafts.

Large hand carved teakwood Buddha statue and Buddha pictures could be commissioned in Yangon, Myanmar or Burma. It would be even reasonable to have a a trip to Yangon, the visa for Myanmar is very easy obtainable in Bangkok from the General Consulate at the Embassy, within a day. One of the simple reason is, there is still plenty of teakwood for carving available in Myanmar or Burma and the manpower prices are very low but the artistic skills of the worker quite high. There are all kind standing Buddha, Buddha with crossed legs, walking, sitting, sleeping and other Buddha Statues available. There are also ancient marble statues available and other antique Buddha sales, just deal with a government licensed shop otherwise you will run into trouble when leaving the country. Also keep in mind that there are no credit card and practically no banks, they have a state bank who does some foreign currency trading but since the US sanctions all came flat. You need dollars in cash, some also take Euro but the preference is dollars, they also wont take Baht, Singapore dollars or whatever. For the daily needs change some money with a money changer in the Bogyoke Market.

To buy a antique Buddha in Singapore or Bangkok is, first, very expensive and second you could run into trouble when leaving the country. In Thailand trouble is on almost for sure when you got antique Buddha's who were for sale. In Singapore and Thailand about 90% of so called antique Buddha statues are not antique at all, they a fake, but very good fake and even the certificated is fake, so be careful. If you want to buy a rather expensive Buddha statue the best is hire a specialist for a few hours and let them check, ask the hotel where you can find one.

Very attractive contemporary laughing Buddha statue are made in Myanmar from jade by carving, this are almost all the time the fat jade Buddha statues and carved from white jade with some other colors visible, usually with some lapis lazuli color and lavender.

Other jade Buddha statues are made from green jade, but rather seldom since good green jade is prohibitively expensive for larger statues of Buddha.

The best jade items whatever the object is one can buy in Myanmar or Burma, there is a so called Emporium twice per year in Yangon or Rangoon to sell jade and other precious stones like rubies, sapphires and plenty of other stones.

Buddha statues show the Buddha in several hand and leg postures or gestures, called mudras, all of them symbolizing some parts of the Buddha’s life.

Basically a Buddha image or statue is depicted in four mudras, a Buddha standing statue is a representation of his descent from heaven.

A Buddha walking statue represents him taming the “Nalagiri” elephant sent by his cousin Devadatta to kill him. Buddha seated statues are the most common postures. The three different seated positions are, legs crossed with both feet hidden; legs crossed with feet on thighs and soles turned upward, this is the co called lotus position, and legs straight down.

Buddha reclining statues with his head pointing to the north symbolizes his death and entry into nirvana. If the head is

pointing to any other direction, it means him sleeping.

There are also six symbolic hand mudras, each gesture carrying a distinct meaning.

The Abhaya Mudra, shows the right hand raised and the left pointed downward. This represents Buddha promising his followers tranquility, protection and courage if they accept and follow his ideas.

The Bhumisparsa Mudra is showing the Buddha seated with crossed legs, left hand on his lap, palm upwards, and his right hand on right knee with fingertips touching the ground. This mudra represents Buddha asking mother earth to witness his enlightenment.

In the Dhyana Mudra the Buddha statue is sitting cross-legged with the palm of his right hand in the left palm, and both hands lying in his lap. The event in the life of the Buddha being depicted is indicated by the objects held in the hands or figures flanking the Buddha image.

The Dharmacakra Mudra depicts Buddha with both hands held in front of his breast forming a circle with the middle finger and thumb of his left hand touching the tips of the index finger and thumb of the right. This signifies the Buddha’s first Sermon at Sarnath, India, giving an explanation of the wheel of law.

A statue depicting the Varada Mudra means standing Buddha with arms outstretched in front of his body, palms opened out and the tips of the fingers pointing downwards to the earth. This mudra represents the Buddha blessing his followers.

The Abhaya and Varada Mudras show Buddha’s right hand raised as in the Abhaya Mudra and his left hand outstretched as in the Varada Mudra. This mudra portrays Buddha blessing and promising protection to his followers. It also represents his descent to earth after preaching to his mother in heaven.