Buddha Shakyamuni

This sculpture of a buddha shows him with characteristic lotus wheel marks on his hands and feet, wearing monastic dress, and performing the gesture of touching the earth (653423388 bhumisparshamudra), a reference to his enlightenment. Such images are conventionally identified as representing Buddha Shakyamuni, the buddha of our age. However, the earrings of this sculpture hint towards a more transcendental form of buddhahood. The so-called bejeweled buddhas of Mahayana Buddhism refer to their enlightenment in the heaven realms, which preceded that on earth.