Buddha & Asian antiques blog

Stone carvers defy Taliban to return to the Bamiyan valley

geo — Thu, 17 May 2012 01:19:32 +0000

Afghan students learn the centuries-old skills that carved out the giant buddhas blown up by extremist

Afghans learning the skills of stone-working in the Bamiyan valley, where the Taliban blew up two giant buddhas in 2001.

Under perfectly carved niches that once held dozens of small buddha statues, the purposeful tap of chisel on stone echoed over the Bamiyan valley for the first time in centuries.

Twelve young Afghans had gathered to take the first tentative steps back towards a stone-working tradition that once made their home famous, at a workshop in a cave gouged out as a monastery assembly hall more than 1,000 years ago.

The cave-hall was part of a complex built around two giant buddhas that loomed serenely over Bamiyan for about 15 centuries – until the Taliban government condemned them as un-Islamic in early 2001 and blew them up.

“I was interested in this course because I want to restore our culture,” said Ismael Wahidi, a 22-year-old student of archeology at Bamiyan University, who set aside more conventional studies for a week to learn how to turn a lump of stone into a sculpture. “If you want to destroy a people, you first destroy their heritage and history.”

The workshop, held just a few metres from where the larger buddha’s face was once carved from the cliff face, aimed to reintroduce stone-carving to the valley by showing that creating basic pieces is easy, even if mastery takes years.

Under the guidance of Afghan, American and German artists, the group picked the stone they would shape from some of the rich seams of marble, quartzite and travertine [a form of limestone] that thread through the local mountains, foothills of the Himalayas. Then they set to work, with chisels forged by local blacksmiths from the suspension springs of old cars. “We wanted to give young people the idea that it is possible to do stone carving with what you have here,” said Bert Praxenthaler, a sculptor and conservationist who has been working on the valley’s monuments for several years, including stabilising the niches that once held the buddhas.

The Bamiyan valley is pockmarked with hundreds of caves that were once part of sumptuous monasteries, packed with statues and lavishly painted with frescoes. This rich artistic heritage was funded by centuries of taxes on caravans passing through what is now an isolated backwater, but was once a wealthy and important stop on the silk road.

“There must have been at least 2,000 years of sculptural tradition,” said Praxenthaler. “Even excavating the caves is a kind of architectural sculpture. It was not just hacking holes into the cliff but also shaping the rooms, and they are quite extraordinary.”

That tradition was probably killed off around 1,000 years ago, Praxenthaler said, when the valley was conquered by Mahmoud of Ghazni, a leader whose epithet suggested little interest in figurative art. “Anyone who calls themselves the ‘destroyer of idols’ probably wouldn’t support further stone carving,” Praxenthaler said.

Sculpture has remained largely off limits in Afghanistan because of strict Islamic prohibitions on idolatry. Depictions of any human or animal are strongly discouraged in art, and calligraphy, floral and geometric patterns dominate the country’s more recent cultural heritage, from the majestic minaret of Jam, to mosques and monuments in cities such as Kabul and Kandahar.

“As you know, extremists often make propaganda about idols. But this is our heritage, not something religious,” said 20-year-old Abdur Rahman Rosta, one of the student sculptors. He added that that in Bamiyan itself the sculptors were feted. The valley’s people suffered badly under the Taliban, and have little sympathy for their hardline views, and Bamiyan has remained one of the most peaceful places in Afghanistan as insurgent violence spreads elsewhere.

The provincial governor came to a small ceremony unveiling the sculptures, and picked up a chisel herself as musicians played in a niche that once held the cave’s largest statue – and might perhaps one day hold another.

“During this course we realised we had much more ability for working with stone than we could have imagined, and we understood we can do so much more,” said Jawed Mohammadi, a 20-year-old history student at the university, who used the week to chisel out a human face. “The buddhas were destroyed, but maybe we can build them again.”

China’s Tibet to make Buddha statue for Tuva

geo — Wed, 16 May 2012 08:42:17 +0000

Kyzyl, May 10, Interfax - A plant in Tibet, China, will make a 15-meter-tall Buddha statue, which will be erected near Kyzyl, the Tuva government said on Thursday.

“It was originally planned to place the order in Volgodonsk, Rostov region, where a 10-meter Buddha statue had been made for the Kalmykia capital city Elista. However, the Volgodonsk plant’s price exceeded the total cost of the project. A Tibet plant in China will help us halve the expenditures,” the government said.

The gilded statue will be made of fiberglass - a light and durable material.

Tuva Buddhist initiated the construction of a gilded Buddha statue in July 2008. Dalai Lama XIV approved the project, and the Tuva government and republican leader Sholban Kara-ool asked businessmen to assist the initiative.

The Tuva leader made a personal contribution of one million rubles.

The monument will be installed on holy Mount Dogee. There will be a six-meter-high throne for Buddha mediating in the lotus position. Initially, the statue was supposed to be 40 meters tall.

“Designers recommended building a statue of 15 meters for better seismic stability of the monument. Nevertheless, the Buddha statue in Tuva will be the tallest in Russia,” the government said.

The monument, which will be placed at an altitude of 2,000 meters above sea level, will be seen from any place in the Tuva capital city.

The total cost of the project is 13 million rubles, and three million rubles have been spent on the Buddha throne. Volunteers started the construction works on Mount Dogee last year. The project will be complete this year.

Sociologists say 52% of 312,000 people in Tuva call themselves Buddhists.

D.C. museums exhibiting work by Chinese artist-activist Ai Weiwei

geo — Sun, 13 May 2012 05:19:07 +0000

Photo by Tish Wells/MCT

WASHINGTON — If your concept of Chinese art is delicately painted screens and fragile porcelain cups, prepare for your world to be upended on a visit to Washington, D.C.

This month, Ai Weiwei, the prolific Chinese artist and political activist, will have two shows on display, and a huge 40-piece retrospective of his work is coming in October.

Starting Saturday at the Smithsonian’s Arthur M. Sackler museum is an exhibit of his “Fragments” sculpture, while down Independence Avenue outdoors at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden is “Zodiac Heads.” Both exhibits leave in 2013.

In “Fragments” a delicate network of ancient ironwood beams are connected by pegs chunked into place by mallets, making the very heavy wood almost dance.

Much of the wood came from south China, where “a great deal of development (is) taking place … but also a great deal of urban change taking place, hence perhaps the abundance of this kind of wood,” says Carol Huh, assistant curator of Contemporary Asian Art at the Sackler.

The wood is from Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) temples and homes that were destroyed with the rapid urbanization of China in the last 20 years. Many of the beams still retain their hand-carved decorated carvings.

She says that Ai Weiwei collected the wood from antique dealers who were selling them in markets. “He’s taken something from a temple structure, that then became fragments of wood to be sold in the market, and transformed it to an art object to be shown in the museum.”

Further down the National Mall, Weiwei’s “Zodiac Heads/Circle of Animals” is on display outside at the Hirshhorn Museum.

Bronze sculptures of the heads of 12 Chinese Zodiac animals — rooster, snake, horse, ram, monkey, dog pig, rat, ox, tiger, rabbit and dragon — are set on 10-foot-tall stalks, cast to evoke lotus roots, surround the museum’s fountain.

The sculptures are based on the original set for the Qianlong emperor (1735-1796) by Giuseppe Castiglione, an Italian Jesuit missionary. Originally, the fountain was installed in the Yuan Ming Yuan, or Old Summer Palace, outside Beijing and spouted water as the sun passed over each animal.

In 1860, the Summer Palace was invaded by British and French forces during the second Opium War. Five of the sculptures were destroyed and the other seven scattered. The rat and the rabbit originals came up for auction in 2009 but the sale became controversial, and, in the end, the sculptures were retained by the owner in France.

For his “Circle of Animals,” Ai Weiwei created out of his imagination the dragon, the ram, the snake, the dog, and the rooster since they were destroyed in 1860.

“The rest are based on the original Qing dynasty carvings. The dragon and the tiger — there is a huge amount of dynamism — he (Weiwei) was thinking of water, as if they were rising out of the water,” says Mika Yoshitake, assistant curator at the Hirshhorn. “You can see it in the tufts of the tiger as well as the feathery parts of the dragon.”

The museum has aligned them with the compass — the first animal of the Zodiac, the rat, is north, the rooster west, the horse the south, the rabbit, the east.

“Fragments” has already garnered one review from the public. A trio of museum visitors, including a young boy, paused for a second at the installation. His unsolicited comment? “That’s cool!”

By Tish Wells

___

Visit the McClatchy Washington Bureau at www.mcclatchydc.com

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/entertainment/arts_culture/view.bg?articleid=1061130955

Standing tall

geo — Fri, 11 May 2012 23:52:54 +0000

Clockwise from top: Workers remove the stone spire of the Four Gates Pagoda during the recent renovation. A historical photo of the pagoda near Jinan, capital of Shandong province. The Akshobhya Buddha’s head is displayed. Statues of the Thousand Buddha Cliff are weathering because of leaks. The pagoda is undergoing a major restoration. [Photos by Zhang Zixuan/ China Daily]

China’s oldest remaining one-story pavilion-style stone pagoda is undergoing major restoration to ensure the about 1,400-year-old building continues to stand tall.

As part of the Shentong Temple complex that is now in ruins, the Four Gates Pagoda, or Simen Pagoda, is a stupa built in the Sui Dynasty (AD 581-618) to store Buddhist relics. The State Council listed it among a first-batch cultural heritage site under State protection in 1961.

Located at the foot of Qinglong Mountain in rural Jinan, Shandong province, the pagoda is square, 7.4 meters wide on the sides and 15.04 meters high. Four doors have straight sides and arches on top.

The pyramidal pagoda roof is supported by a square stone pillar, with four Buddha statues on every face. The roof consists of 23 tiers of overlapping stone slabs and a stone steeple on top.

“The mission is to repair leaks that have begun to damage the Buddhist statues,” says Wang Feng, deputy director of the Cultural Heritage Preservation Center of the Four Gates Pagoda.

The pagoda underwent major renovations during the early 1950s and 1970s to solve problems of sedimentation, cracking walls and spire weathering, Wang says.

He says waterproofing, however, remains a problem.

“This is partly attributed to the improper use of asphalt as pointing. Asphalt is rigid and cracks with age,” says Tang Yang, director of the Shandong Cultural Heritage Protection Center’s Design Office One and supervisor of the repairs.

“Using asphalt as pointing was still in the explorative stage in the 1970s. It’s like new meds that prove to have side effects.”

Mortar mixed with sand that causes water seepage is another problem. The repair project began in February. All the Buddha statues inside the pagoda were wrapped up, and the entire roof was dismantled with every stone numbered.

“The two pedestals of the steeple weigh 1 ton each, so it took a whole day to move them away,” Wang says, adding the roof of the pagoda will be rebuilt using original stones and traditional construction methods.

The pointing agent will comprise egg white and glutinous rice paste, and the adhesive among the filled stones will be a clay and plaster mix, so it won’t crack.

Mei Xingwu, a stonemason lives next to the main entrance of the Four Gates Pagoda Scenic Area, says this is the correct approach.

“Traditional techniques have been tested for more than 1,000 years, which makes them deserving of respect,” he says.

His father, Mei Dianlong, who’s also a stonemason, participated in the pagoda’s restoration in 1972. Part of the steeple was his work.

In 1997, the head of the Akshobhya Buddha on the eastern wall of the pagoda’s center pillar was stolen. In 2002, when it was retrieved and returned to the pagoda, the younger Mei was part of a team that seamlessly glued it back on.

“It’s good that the pagoda hasn’t changed much through the years, and the repairs have only made it stronger,” Mei says.

A stone case was discovered in the center stone pillar in 1973. Inside was a colored copper case filled with Buddhist relics. Also, a stone inscription discovered above a triangle stone beam says the pagoda was “built in the seventh year of the Sui Dynasty’s Daye period”, which is AD 611.

During the ongoing restoration project, a sealed stone vase was found in the roof. Inside was a bottle containing drawing sheets and documents.

“They are records of the last repair project, which were stored in the roof when the repairs were done in 1973,” Wang says, adding this will be done again.

Tang, the restoration project supervisor, says: “The repairs will ensure the pagoda lasts at least another 50 years.”

Additionally, two pavilions from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) that are near the pagoda are undergoing repairs that are scheduled to be completed by the end of May. They will be followed by repairs of relief sculptures on a stone pedestal made in the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907).

Meanwhile, the Thousand-Buddha Cliff, carved with more than 210 Tang statues and 43 inscriptions, is weathering because of leaks, Wang says.

A repair plan is expected to be launched in 2013, once it’s approved by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage.

Now that’s disciplined: The 8,000 Buddhas painstakingly carved from dead trees

geo — Fri, 11 May 2012 03:54:04 +0000

These Buddha sculptures stretch for as far as the eye can see.There are 8,000 of them in all and each and every one has been painstakingly carved from dead jujube trees.

Varying in height from 1m to 1.5m, they have been put on display in Zhengzhou, China, before being moved to the Ten Thousand Buddha Garden.

Budd you believe it! These 8,000 Buddha sculptures have gone on display in Zhengzhou, China

Happy faces: Each of the Buddhas was carved from dead jujube trees and measure between 1m and 5m

Buddhism is a spiritual tradition that focuses on personal spiritual development and the attainment of a deep insight into the true nature of life.

Buddhism teaches that all life is interconnected, so compassion is natural and important.

It arose as a result of Siddhartha Gautama’s quest for Enlightenment in around 600BC

There are currently around 400million followers worldwide.

Massive effort: The sculptures have been stacked side by side before being moved to the Ten Thousand Buddha Garden

Sacred: Buddhism is widely followed in China and plays an enormous role in the mindset of its people from aesthetics and politics to philosophy and medicine

Temple discovery reveals Indian Buddhism’s spread to China

geo — Wed, 09 May 2012 03:17:50 +0000

KERIYA, Xinjiang, May 7 (Xinhua) — The ruins of a Buddhist temple dating back 1,500 years ago have been discovered in China’s largest desert, offering valuable research material for historians studying Buddhism’s spread from India to China.

The temple’s main hall, with a rare structure based around three square-shaped corridors and a huge Buddha statue, has been uncovered after two months of hard work in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, Dr. Wu Xinhua, the leading archaeologist of the excavation project, said Monday.

“The hall is the largest of its kind found in the Taklimakan Desert since the first archaeologist came to work in the area in the 20th century,” said Wu, also head of the Xinjiang archeological team of the Chinese Academy of Social Science.

The ruins are located in the south of the Taklimakan Desert, in the Tarim Basin, known as the Damago Oasis in the ancient kingdom of Khotan, a Buddhist civilization believed to date back to the 3rd century BC.

Temple halls with square-shaped corridors stemmed from early Buddhist architecture in India, and gradually disappeared after the Northern and Southern Dynasties (420AD-589AD), when Buddhist architecture in China began to pick up its own characteristics, according to Xiao Huaiyan, a member of the excavation team and a former researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Judging from the layout of the ruins, and the artifacts uncovered at the site, Wu and his colleagues believe the temple dates back to the Southern and Northern Dynasties.

It is so far the best Buddhist site for scholars to study how the religion arrived in China from India, and its early development in the country, said Wu.

Judging from the size of the pedestal on which it would have rested, the missing Buddha statue should be at least three meters tall, reaching the size limits of the hall when its roof was intact, he estimates.

The innermost corridor extends six meters from both south to north and from east to west, the second corridor is 10 meters long and 10 meters wide, while the hall’s wall surrounds an area of 256 square meters.

Still visible on corridor walls are mural paintings of items including the Buddha’s feet, Buddhists and auspicious animals. They are painted in a Greco-Buddhist artistic style, which was seldom seen after the 6th century.

Ruins of several residential structures were found to the southwest of the main hall, along with some pottery kilns and ancient coins.

There is still a scripture hall, a stupa and residential houses for Buddhists to be uncovered, Wu added.

The southern end of the ancient Silk Road, a major historical trade route, went across the 337,000-square-km Taklimakan Desert, and a wide variety of cultural heritage items have been buried in what is now known as the “sea of death.”

In 1901, British explorer Marc Aurel Stein trekked far out in the desert and into the ruins of Niya, an ancient Pompeii-like city with homes, Buddhist stupas, temples, pottery kilns, orchards, tombs, waterways and dams.

Since then, more than 10 Buddhist sites have been discovered by archaeologists from China and abroad in the Damago Oasis.

This picture is related to the article is not the photo of the discovery.

Asia’s architectural treasures in danger of ‘vanishing’

geo — Mon, 07 May 2012 23:51:13 +0000

Many architectural treasures in India are in danger of vanishing, including India’s Rakhigari and Bangladesh’s Mahasthangarh. The sites are under threat due to economic expansions, tourism, poor technical resources, looting and conflict.

Asia’s architectural treasures, from a Buddhist monastery in Afghanistan to an ancient city in China, are in danger of vanishing under a tide of economic expansion, war and tourism, according to experts.

The Global Heritage Fund named 10 sites facing “irreparable loss and destruction.”

“These 10 sites represent merely a fragment of the endangered treasures across Asia and the rest of the developing world,” Jeff Morgan, executive director of the fund, said, presenting the report, “Asia’s Heritage in Peril: Saving Our Vanishing Heritage.”

The architectural gems from Asia’s ancient and sophisticated cultures are struggling in the face of economic expansion, sudden floods of tourists, poor technical resources, and areas blighted by looting and conflict — in other words, the pressures of rapidly modernizing Asia.

“We’re looking at these millennial civilizations leapfrogging into the 21st century at a kind of pace that is unheard of, unprecedented,” said Vishakha N. Desai, president of the Asia Society, which hosted a conference based on the report.

Kuanghan Li, head of Global Heritage Fund’s China program, underlined the urgency in a presentation on work to preserve Pingyao, one of China’s last surviving walled cities. The stunning fortifications are impressively maintained and floodlit.

But “up to 20 years ago, there were hundreds of similar walled cities left in China,” she said. “They have been demolished.”

Experts said that global architectural preservation efforts are poorly coordinated and targeted, with the UN cultural body UNESCO focusing almost entirely on sites in already wealthy European countries, rather than in places like Latin America or Asia.

More than 80 percent of UNESCO World Heritage sites are located in the 10 richest states, the Global Heritage Fund said.

Elsewhere, “heritage is being dramatically undervalued,” Morgan said, warning that the endangered sites were doomed without quick help. “We’re going to lose them on our watch in the next 10 years.”

Shirley Young, head of the US-China Cultural Institute, said the importance of such work goes beyond being “just about beautiful buildings, beautiful sites.”

“I think we’d agree,” she said, “that a world without history is a world without soul.”

Still, experts highlighted stories of inspiring success stories.

John Sanday, a specialist who has spent years trying to bring Angkor and other Cambodian sites back from the brink of collapse, showed dramatic before-and-after photographs of majestic temples that he first encountered two decades ago.

“The trees had literally just taken over and strangling the building, pulling it apart,” he said, pointing to ruins that had been made structurally sound once again — although now under threat from tourism.

“We really hope with a concerted effort we can save these places,” Morgan said.

The top 10 endangered sites in Asia, according to the Global Heritage Fund, are:

1. Ayutthaya in Thailand, a former Siamese capital known as the “Venice of the East.”

2. Fort Santiago in the Philippines.

3. Kashgar, one of the last preserved Silk Road cities in China.

4. Mahasthangarh, one of South Asia’s earliest archeological sites in Bangladesh.

5. Mes Aynak, an Afghan Buddhist monastery complex on the Silk Road.

6. Myauk-U, capital of the first Arakenese kingdom in Myanmar.

7. Plain of Jars, a mysterious megalithic site in Laos.

8. Preah Vihear, a Khmer architectural masterpiece in Cambodia.

9. Rakhigari, one of the biggest, ancient Indus sites in India.

10. Taxila, an ancient economic crossroads in Pakistan.

This article was distributed through the NewsCred Smartwire. Original article © Agence France Presse 2012

Madison Ancient & Tribal Art Presents An Exclusive Exhibition

geo — Mon, 07 May 2012 03:00:54 +0000

New York , New York –

Mende Woman Figure, Sierra Leone, H: 25″

(Compliments of James Stephenson African Art)

click to enlarge

“Attush” Men’s Robe, Ainu of Hokkaido, Japan

(Compliments of Joe Loux Asian and Tribal Art)

click to enlarge

Dayak Guardian Figure, Borneo

(Compliments of Amyas Naegele Fine Arts)

May Means MATA! Madison Ancient & Tribal Art, an alliance of international dealers specializing in the art of traditional cultures, will present an exhibition of select objects for five days only, May 9-13, 2012, at the Arader Gallery, located in a magnificent Beaux-Arts townhouse on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, near the Whitney Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The opening reception is 5-9pm Wednesday. Show hours are: Wednesday, May 9, 11am – 9pm; Thursday – Saturday, May 10 – 12, 11am – 7:30pm; Sunday, May 13, 11am – 5pm.
The goal of MATA is to offer to new and seasoned collectors alike antique fine arts and ancient artifacts from tribal cultures of Africa, Oceania, Indonesia, Asia and the Americas. “We timed our show to coincide with the tribal art auctions taking place nearby at Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Bonhams,” said Amyas Naegele, owner of Amyas Naegele Fine Art, a New York based dealer of African and Oceanic art and a member of the Madison Ancient & Tribal Art consortium. “And timing is key. Collectors of ancient and tribal art from across the country and abroad routinely visit New York for the annual auctions and our aim is to captivate that signal audience in as much as we are able to stretch boundaries and offer a more expansive range of high caliber pieces, unlike the auctions, which typically are limited in number of objects, regions and price points.”
Other dealers participating in the show include Peter-Michael Boyd (African art), H. Kellim Brown African Sculpture, Conru African & Oceanic Art, Bruce Frank Primitive Art (Oceanic and Indonesian art), Huber Primitive Art (Precolumbian art), Leonard Kalina Fine Arts and Splendors of the World (Precolumbian art and Asian Antiquities), Joe Loux Asian and Tribal Art, Adrian Schlag Tribal Art Classics (African and Oceanic art), and James Stephenson African Art.
These ten international galleries will show some of their finest pieces, in many cases unveiling them for the first time.

Here are some of the highlights:
Bruce Frank Primitive Art will exhibit an important and archaic Cave Guardian Figure, from the Dayak Tribe in Borneo, Indonesia. It dates to the 15th century. Its height is 39 inches tall.
A highlight of MATA is an outstanding 19th century Fang reliquary figure (height 20.5”) from Gabon, at Adrian Schlag Tribal Art Classics. This exceptional piece was formerly part of a French missionary museum’s collection. Schlag will also exhibit a select group of sculptures from Africa and Oceania.
Leonard Kalina Fine Art is offering an extraordinary terra cotta vessel from the Moche Culture of the north coast of Peru, circa 300-500 AD. The striking figure surmounting the vessel depicts a sea deity fishing for a whale, a rare motif, while the ceramic incorporates inlays of a large quantity of turquoise, spondylous shell, jet and bone of exceptional quality.
An arresting maternity staff appears courtesy of Conru African & Oceanic Art. It is by the hand of the 19th century South African artist known as the Baboon Master for his expertise in carving images of the erstwhile primate. The most noteworthy of his output of prestige staffs are the maternity presentations. In this example, the mother is particularly noble, her chin held proudly, and her child cradled lovingly on her back. For the Zulu of southern Africa, as in societies around the world, the mother and child image supports the key role of women. The headdress and hide skirt reinforce her status as a married woman.
From Huber Primitive Art comes a fine pre-Columbian ceramic and stone sculpture dating from 1200 BC-1492 AD. This Olmec figure, with its unusually expressive face, measures four inches tall. It was cut and broken in ancient times, perhaps as part of a ceremony. circa 1200-600 BC.
Amyas Naegele Fine Art will be showing a striking Dayak guardian figure from Borneo. Such figures were kept outdoors and exposed to the elements, hence the fabulously variegated patina of lichen on weathered, highly oxidized wood. He will also feature collections of smaller objects such as Baule weaving pulleys, Asante combs and Somali spoons as well as large objects including an exuberant Mumuye shoulder mask from eastern Nigeria by the same hand as one recently on view at the National Museum of African Art and a tall sensuous ladder from the Dogon of Mali.
Another stunning work of art, compliments of James Stephenson African Art, is a figure of a Mende woman, considered by a noted scholar and art expert of the region as a rare and outstanding example of the sculptural skill and talent of the area. This masterpiece is from an East Coast collection and stands 25 inches tall.
Joe Loux Asian and Tribal Art unveils an exceptional Attush Man’s Robe from the Ainu of Hokkaido, Japan, dating to the 19th century. Attush is the inner bark from the elm tree. The cotton appliqué and embroidered patterns around the openings and edges of the robe are believed by the Ainu to protect the wearer from malevolent spirits that enter the garment through openings in the garment. This is an early and wonderful example of its type. 50 inches (w) X 43 inches (h).
MATA invites collectors of modern and contemporary art and design to consider the beauty of non-Western sculpture both on its own terms and for its potential to compliment their collections.

The Arader Gallery is located at 1016 Madison Avenue (between 78th & 79th Streets) in New York City.

For more information as well as a slide show of objects, please visit

www.madisonancientandtribalart.com.

About Madison Ancient and Tribal Art:

Madison Ancient & Tribal Art (MATA) is an alliance of 10 international dealers specializing in the art of traditional cultures of Africa, Asia, Oceania, Indonesia and the Ancient Americas.

Afghan museum highlights country’s Buddhist heritage

geo — Sat, 05 May 2012 02:07:58 +0000

KABUL: Afghanistan achieved global notoriety when the Taliban blew up the ancient Bamiyan Buddhas 11 years ago. This week opened an exhibition that highlights the country’s rich Buddhist heritage.

As if to underline the departure from Taliban-era aesthetics, the exhibition is being hosted at the National Museum, rebuilt with international aid after being destroyed by civil war.

Overlooked by the ruins of the neoclassical Darulaman Palace, the museum interior is a sanctuary of quiet arches and marble floors in a violent land.

In the entrance hall is a replica of the Great Buddha of Bamiyan, one of two giant standing statues carved into the cliffs of Afghanistan’s central highlands in the sixth century.

Dating from the second century A.D., the original artifacts in the show were hidden – many of them in secret vaults outside the museum – and protected by museum staff through 30 years of conflict.

One statue shows a lean-torsoed Buddha that, according to museum curator Surkh Kotal, reflects Greek artistic influences introduced in the wake of Alexander the Great’s invasion of Afghanistan.

Others show damage inflicted during Taliban rule, when many of the museum’s artifacts were destroyed.

Among the items spared are relief carvings depicting the Buddha’s life and other artifacts from former Buddhist monasteries in Afghanistan, mainly south of the Hindu Kush mountains.

One of those behind the protection of the treasures is museum director Omarakhan Massoudi, who joined the museum 34 years ago.

“I’m happy we preserved some masterpieces through a difficult time in our country,” said Massoudi, recounting how a decision was made to move major works to secret locations in 1989 as Soviet forces withdrew and civil war loomed.

During that war, he added, some 70 percent of the artifacts were looted and smuggled into neighboring countries to find their way onto the black market.

The museum, along with the palace on the hill, was largely destroyed as rival warlords unleashed artillery and rocket fire on the capital in a brutal struggle for power. Then came the Taliban. Toward the end of their rule they destroyed more than 2,000 artifacts, Massoudi said, and blew up the Bamiyan Buddhas as “idols” in March 2001.

“We have repaired more than 300 statues,” said Massoudi. “Some are on display and we will continue this activity in the future.” The destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas, he continued, was “a big tragedy because they were a part of our history, a part of our culture.”

Lying on the famed Silk Road trading route connecting east and west, Afghanistan absorbed Buddhism from India and the religion flourished for hundreds of years before the arrival of Islam in the eighth century.

Buddhism has since virtually disappeared from a country where more than 99 percent of the population proclaim themselves Muslim. The museum is dedicated to keeping the nation’s history alive.

“We have to be proud about this very rich heritage of Afghanistan,” said Massoudi, “and we need to transfer it to the next generations.”

In a country still at war, it is still unsafe for the museum to display some of its most important possessions. The priceless 2,000 year-old Bactrian Gold collection of more than 20,000 gold ornaments, hidden by museum staff during the civil war, has been touring the world since 2006.

Closer to home, the ruined grandeur of the Darulaman Palace – clearly visible from the museum – stands as an enormous exhibit reflecting a less than glorious period in the nation’s history.

By Lawrence Bartlett
Agence France Presse
Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Culture/Art/2012/May-05/172390-afghan-museum-highlights-countrys-buddhist-heritage.ashx#ixzz1txO9lc22
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)

Buddha of 3/11 fame now home

geo — Fri, 04 May 2012 02:10:24 +0000

KYOTO — A gold-coated Buddha statue has been returned to Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto after being shipped to Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, which supplied uprooted Takata Matsubara pine trees to build it.

At home: Kiyomizu Temple’s Dainichi Nyorai statue is seen in Kyoto. KYODO

The 2.7-meter-tall statue of Dainichi Nyorai, a Buddha signifying the universe, was made of pieces from pine trees uprooted by the March 2011 tsunami.

Kiyomizu Temple had asked the Traditional Arts Super College of Kyoto to build the statue before the twin disasters struck, but afterward students decided to build it from pine trees in Rikuzentakata, collecting about 30 pieces of tsunami-wrecked trees.

More than 10,000 people helped to carve the statue by chisel, including Bhutan’s royal couple when they visited Kyoto last November.

The statue was sent to Rikuzentakata on April 26 to give disaster-hit residents a lift, as it was made from local pine trees. It is also viewed as a symbol of the shattered town’s regeneration.

About 20 of the students, who began building the statue last summer, Tuesday carried it into the main hall of Kiyomizu Temple, covered with a white cloth. Visitors and onlookers applauded as the cloth was removed, and a monk then recited a sutra.

Kyodo

Pakistan 2: Excavation at Jamal Garhi ruins unearths new discoveries

geo — Wed, 02 May 2012 23:57:01 +0000

PESHAWAR: A team of archaeologists conducting fresh excavation at the ancient ruins in Jamal Garhi in Mardan district made new discoveries in the last two months, experts working on the project said Saturday.

Talking to reporters, Dr Zainul Wahab, professor of Archaeology at the Hazara University and field director of the excavation project at the Jamal Garhi ruins, said they had discovered coins, head of Buddha, five rooms, a sculpture plate and the traces of a lake during the recent excavation and following research analysis.

Highlighting the importance of the coins, he said these belonged to the era of the Kushan king, Huvishka and probably dated back to the 158-195 AD. He said that on the coins King Huvishka was seated with a pillow on one side while on the reverse side of the coin, Miro, the god of sun, was radiating. He said the head of Buddha unearthed during the excavation had stylish hair carved by the sculptors of the time.

Regarding the discovery of the five rooms, he said their structures were two-storey, giving the idea that these were built in two different eras in the ancient times. Dr Zainul Wahab informed that a sculpture plate unearthed depicted that the king was presenting a gift to Buddha while courteous musicians engraved on the plate were seen beating the drums. He added it was a unique discovery in recent times at any archaeological site in the region.

To a query, he said they were expecting more discoveries as the work was still in progress. He said they had discovered three letters in the Kharoshti script engraved on fragment of terra cotta and there was probability of finding the complete script in the language from the ruins.

Kharoshti was an ancient Indic script in which Gandhari language, a dialect of Prakirt and Sanskrit language, was written in the current Indo-Pak region in the ancient past. He informed that they had discovered around 80 fragments of stones and were expecting to find further material during the excavation.

Explaining the new research analysis project, Dr Zain said the site was first excavated in 1873 and it was one of the richest Buddhist sites in terms of findings. However, he said due to lack of archaeological knowledge and research methodology most of the valuable information and history regarding the ruins remained concealed.

Illegal excavations for more than a century had robbed the Jamal Garhi complex of its precious antiquities in large numbers, he said. He said it was in December 2011 that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and the Archaeology Department headed by Dr Shah Nazar felt the need for renewed excavation at the Jamal Garhi site.

He added that a team of experts comprising noted archaeologists along with the students of archaeology started work on the project in March 2012. He said the map of the site was extended to encompass more information for the archaeologists, researchers and students.

He lauded the efforts of Dr Shah Nazar, director Archaeology Department, and Secretary Jamaluddin Shah for their personal interest in unearthing the hidden treasures of the Buddhist civilisation and add to the human knowledge about the bygone era in the historical Mardan region.

Archives. This picture shows ancient discoveries, not the ones mentioned in the article.

Pakistan 1: Museums to house Buddha carvings found from Bhasha Dam site

geo — Wed, 02 May 2012 01:59:01 +0000

Museums to house Buddha carvings found from Bhasha Dam site

Mehtab Haider
Wednesday, May 02, 2012

ISLAMABAD: The government has decided to construct two museums to preserve 33,000 rock carvings, sculptures and statures of Buddha discovered from the site of construction of Bhasha Dam, it is learnt.

These discovered rock carvings will probably be preserved in fiber glass material same on the lines of Aswan Dam in Egypt.In order to accomplish this task in more professional way, Wapda has hired services of an international consultant Dr Herald Hauptmann who belonged to Germany and working on preserving heritage in the area from last two decades.

“Yes, we have decided to construct two museums one in Gilgit and other one in Chilas to preserve thousands of rock carvings of centuries old heritage and culture,” Chairman Wapda, Shakeel Durrani confirmed to The News.

He further said that out of 33,000 discovered rock carvings, almost 10 percent were in good shape that could be preserved in these two upcoming museums going to be established in Chilas and Gilgit.

There is huge interest in Japan and some European countries regarding preservation of cultural heritage on proposed Bhasha Dam. Japan had indicated to provide multi million dollar assistance for Pakistan’s water sector reservoirs but Islamabad is pursuing Tokyo and Washington to participate into consortium led by Asian Development Bank to arrange financing of $12.7 billion for this crucial dam.

There was apprehension that Pakistan might loose precious rock carvings in the wake of construction of Bhasha Dam as the site of the dam possessed over 33,000 rock carvings that may vanish because of construction work.

Some of these carvings are more than 10,000 years old providing a window to discover ancient history, anthropology, culture, life style of the people settled in the Upper Indus area.However, the sources said that authorities have allocated Rs608 million for preparing culture heritage management plan for areas of Bhasha Dam.

The hired consultant, the sources said, has been assigned to prepare model for preserving these discovered rock carvings on the site of Bhasha Dam.There was controversy over the site of museum to preserve these rock carvings and in order to resolve this issue amicably it was decided in consultation with Archeology department of Northern Areas, KP and Wapda to build two museums and distribute found remains equally between them.

Chongfu Temple - Historical Witnesses in Shuozhou City

geo — Tue, 01 May 2012 01:20:08 +0000

SHANXI, Chongfu Temple, located in the East Street of New City in Shuozhou City, Shanxi Province, close to downtown area, with convenient traffic, is the key units of cultural relics preservation approved by the State Council. The temple rides north to south in neat layout with five courtyards and ten palaces totally. There stands Hall of King Kong, Bell Tower, Drum Tower, Qianfo Ge, Manjusri Hall, Possession Temple, Daxiong Duan, Amitabha Hall and Goddess of Mercy Temple from the south to the north of gate, covering an area of 23,400 square meters, which form such a complete-scale and magnificent ancient architecture.

Historical ValueChongfu Temple was built in second years of Tang Lin (year of 665) by E Guogongï¼^royal nobility titleï¼%Weichijingde under the imperial order. Through renovation and expansion in successive dynasties, its scale becomes more and more magnificent. The main hall Amitabha Hall was set up in the third year of Jinxizong Huangtong (1143), with a history of more than 800 years. As one of the existing Three Big Buddha Hall in Liao and Jin era, it presents its very important historical value.

Architectural ValueThe main hall Amitabha Hall is the largest building in the temple, which embodies the essence of Chongfu Temple. In order to expand the inner space, the craftsmen at that time adopted minus column building, which was unique as the domestic isolated case. Additionally, whether the colored glaze ridge decorations, brackets, plaque-free bar, partition board doors and windows, beam structure on the top to the statue or backlights and wall paintings inside are all original articles from Jin era. They have been preserved until now and rarely to see today, being called “Cultural Palace of Art in Jin Era” by experts. Furthermore, there are many valuable cultural relics such as Thousand-buddha Stone Pagoda of Northern Wei Dynasty.

Nowadays Chongfu Temple, with its unsophisticated and lofty appearance, reappears in the earth of Shuozhou City, keeping on witnessing the changing and developing times.

Route: Start from Beijing, arrive at Shuozhou City after 8.5 hours by train and go to #94 of East Street of New City.

Simayi+8618901060959406925399@qq.com http://city.cri.cn/

Lions of Buddha

geo — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 05:32:25 +0000

Carefully guarding the entrance to the University of Hawai’i at Manoa’s Jefferson Hall rest a pair of stone Chinese Fu Dogs from Taiwan that were anonymously gifted to the University back in 1971.

“Fu Dogs” is the American name that has been coined to describe these kinds of statues. The name refers to breeds originating in Ancient China that resemble Chinese guardian lions. Some of these relatives include the Pekingese, Shih Tzu, Chow, Tibetan Spaniel and the Japanese Chin. Fu Dogs are more correctly referred to as “Lion of Buddha,” “Dog of Fo.” The statues have been believed for centuries to have mythical powers when placed at the entrances of important buildings, such as temples, palaces, government offices and emperors’ tombs.

According to the Chinese Art and Culture by Rene Grousset, the lion was first introduced in China as early as the Han Period, which began approximately 147 AD. Lions were not native animals to the Orient, but the statues created resembled both a lion and dog mix.

The lion is also a symbol of Buddha’s sovereignty.

The Lions of Buddha are typically placed in a fashion of having one male and one female lion on each side of the entrance to ward off thieves, enemies and evil spirits. These great statues were constructed from materials such as marble, bronze, granite and iron, which meant only the wealthy possessed the expenses to be able to afford protection ensured by these creatures. To the Chinese people, the Lion of Buddha also symbolized prosperity and wealth.

In traditional practice, the male dog is slightly taller than the female and contains a sphere under his right paw as a representation of heaven and the totality of the Buddhist law. The female lion typically has a baby cub under her paw which represents earth and the family. The female is placed to the left of the entrance, while the male is placed to the right. In some instances, the male’s mouth is open an the female’s is closed, but there are many varieties of these statues.

In Japan, the lions are referred to as “Karashishi,” and are slightly different in appearance, but generally represent the same good fortunes and protections as the Chinese ones. In Korea, the lions are called “Koma-inu” which translates to Korean dogs.

Though it may sound ironic, the next time you happen to wander by these lions of Buddha find relief in knowing the doors you pass through will be safely guarded by these mystical beings.

Chinese archaeologists restore over 50 Buddha statues

geo — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 23:52:12 +0000

SHIJIAZHUANG, April 26 (Xinhua) — Chinese archaeologists have finished restoring over 50 Buddha statues from thousands of fragments unearthed in north China’s Hebei Province, an archaeological researcher said Thursday.

“The restoring task is arduous, as it involves complicated procedures to protect the statues’ coloring, reinforce their gold foil and join their pieces together,” said Dr. He Liqun, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS).

He said his team created a detailed restoration plan based on the original features of the statues, adding that more statues are expected to be restored using the unearthed components.

A team of archaeologists from the CASS and the Hebei Provincial Institute of Cultural Heritage in January unearthed 2,895 Buddha statues and statue fragments in Yecheng, a 2,500-year-old ancient city located in what is now Linzhang county, according to He.

The Buddha statues, mostly made of white marble and blue stone, are believed to date back to the Eastern Wei and Northern Qi dynasties (534-577). The archaeological finding is thought to be the largest of its kind since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949.

The city of Yecheng, built during the Spring and Autumn period (770 BC-476 BC), served as the political center during the Three Kingdoms period (220-280) and the Northern Dynasty period (386-581).

Thai Buddhist Temple, Wat Rong Khun, Built With Images Of Superman, Neo From The Matrix

geo — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 02:50:38 +0000

Near the city of Chiang Rai, in northern Thailand, shines Wat Rong Khun, a Buddhist temple poised to become one of the most stunningly beautiful in the world. Painted all white for purity with glittering glass for the teaching of the Buddha, the temple is designed by the Thai Buddhist artist Chalermchai Kositpipat, and is expected to be finished in 2070.

Wat Rong Khun is rich with symbolism derived from Buddhist and Hindu traditions, as well as some more unorthodox sources. Inside, Wat Rong Khun contains the expected statues of the Buddha, but the Buddhist artist has also included images of Superman, Batman, and Neo from The Matrix who he believes further the Buddha’s message.

Photo via Flickr

“Only death can stop my dream but cannot stop my project,” Chalermchai Kositpipat reportedly said about Wat Rong Khun. Kositpipat refers to the temple as an offering to Lord Buddha and believes the project will give him immortal life.

Have you been to this temple, or another particularly unique place of worship? Share your experiences with us in the comments section.

Check the impressive Huffington Post slide show:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/26/thai-buddhist-temple-wat-rong-khun_n_1447032.html

‘Secrets of the Silk Road:’ Unraveling the mystery

geo — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 11:43:25 +0000

By TERRY CONWAY
Special to the Times

Victor Mair is smitten with a 3,800-year old dazzling beauty. Chinese archaeologists unearthed the “Beauty of Xiaohe” in 2003, and when they opened her coffin they discovered an alluring woman with graceful eyelashes, long flaxen hair and a serene expression. “Sleeping Beauty” is considered one of the most important human remains ever found.“I call her the Marlene Dietrich of the desert,” said Dr. Mair with a laugh. A resident of Swarthmore, Mair is an archaeologist and professor of Chinese language and literature at the University of Pennsylvania.

“She has long tresses of hair spilling down over her shoulder. She is wearing a white, Alpine-like hat tilted down over her right eye. She’s got beautiful features. She is gorgeous.”

The Beauty of Xiaohe is just one of the eye-popping sights in the “Secrets of the Silk Road” exhibition at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology which runs until June 5.

The exhibition draws upon the rich history of Central Asia’s Tarim Basin desert, and the mystery of the peoples who lived there or passed through so long ago. You can view the Beauty of Xiaohe and a group of more than 100 artifacts such as sophisticated textiles, jewelry and gem-encrusted gold vessels, excavated in far western China, have traveled outside the country.

A consulting scholar at the Penn Museum, Mair is the exhibit’s catalog editor and a curatorial consultant. “Secrets of the Silk Road” is considered the most prominent exhibition Penn has produced in an Asian art field since the 1920s when the core of the Asian collection arrived at the Penn Museum.

“We anticipate there will be a lot of major Chinese officials from the Xinjiang region coming over here to the opening,” said Mair, who sports a snow white, bushy beard. “There has been a greater degree of openness and cooperation. It is serving as a kind of bridge between the two countries. It’s a very positive sign that we’ve been able to do this exhibition from a region that is fraught with controversy.”

Mair has spent his academic career engaged in intensive research on Xinjiang archeology. Back in the summer of 1988, Mair led a Smithsonian tour through a Xinjiang gallery.

When he parted a black curtain and stepped into a dimly lit room, Mair was face-to-face with eight Bronze Age mummies.

“I was suspicious, full of disbelief, I said, ‘Oh, this is some kind of hoax,’” Mair recalled. “They looked like something out of Madame Tussauds Wax Museum — they were too well preserved.”

Some of the Tarim Basin mummies were nearly 4,000 years old. How could they be so well-preserved? And the even larger mystery was: who the heck were they?

“Rather than the expected Chinese-like appearance, these mummies were tall in stature, fair in complexion with blond, reddish-brown hair,” Mair explained. “It was shocking.”

The mummies were dressed in everyday clothing that hinted of European or western Eurasian descent.

“The clothing was so immaculate, so pristine, and the colors were vivid and bright,” he said. “I stayed there for four hours staring at the mummies. They had to kick me out, but, by the time I left I was convinced they were real.”

For the first time ever, two of the strikingly-preserved mummies and the full burial trappings of a third — representative of three different periods of time — are being presented on the East Coast at the Penn Museum. The historic exhibition also reveals surprising details about the people who lived and traded along the ancient Silk Road in the Tarim Basin between 700 and 3,800 years ago.

Revitalizing MuseumA native of East Canton, Ohio and a graduate from Dartmouth College, Mair has lived in Swarthmore for more than 30 years. He is a strong proponent of the Swarthmore Food Co-op that he calls the hub of his activities. Mair rides the Septa train a couple of days a week to teach Chinese language and literature classes at Penn. His investigations of the mummies and their artifacts have taken Mair on numerous expeditions to East Central Asia. In the late 1990s Mair worked with PBS’ NOVA and the Discovery Channel on documentaries about the mummies of the region.

Beyond the “Beauty of Xiaohe,” the Penn exhibit is showcasing the much celebrated, six-foot-six inch “Yingpan Man,” circa 3rd-4th century AD, with his gold-foil and white mask and opulent robes (the mummified remains of his body were too fragile to travel). Another is an infant, circa 8th century BC, wrapped in a still vibrant blue bonnet and burgundy woolen shroud similar to that found in northern Europe.

“The human remains in the Tarim Basin mummified naturally,” Mair explained. “The desert environment, freezing winters, and salty soil created the perfect environment for the preservation of organic materials. They probably were buried during the winter. The extremely cold temperatures inhibited the growth of bacteria, and slowed decomposition even more.”

Still, the exhibit is a lot more than just its mummies. A wide array of ancient objects — such as clothing, textiles, gold jewelry and coins, figurines, masks, tools, burial goods, and even perfectly preserved food — help illuminate the history, and pre-history, of the famous Silk Road with strong Mediterranean influences as well as goods from ancient China.

The Silk Road was a set of trade routes that connected China, India, Central Asia, the Middle East, and parts of Africa and Europe, spanning over 4,000 miles. Silk Road travelers migrated on foot or by camel caravan through the harsh terrain of Eastern Central Asia.

The discovery of these ancient people has opened up a window to understanding the very early exchange of important technologies, life-improving inventions, and ideas and customs—including what may be the world’s first sunglasses — being practiced in the inhospitable lands of the Tarim Basin where lavish goods, technologies and ideas between East and West were adopted and exchanged.

The exhibition was organized by the Bowers Museum of Santa Ana, Calif. in association with the Archaeological Institute of Xinjiang and the Urumqi Museum. In February of 2009 Mair received a call from the director of the Bowers Museum and was asked if he would be involved in planning an exhibition of the mummies.

“I couldn’t believe it; I’m thinking man, this is like a dream,” recalled Mair in an enthusiastic, wide-eyed way. “Then he asked, ‘Could the exhibit come to Penn?’ I nearly fell through the floor. It’s so appropriate, I started researching all this in 1991, and 20 years later it’s come full circle.”

With this blockbuster exhibit, Penn is re-launching the museum as a public venue that resulted in three galleries being totally refurbished, including the original 1899 west wing.

“The museum has a long and storied history, but it’s gotten crusty and a bit neglected here on a corner in west Philadelphia,” Mair related.” The president, the provost — everybody collaborated with us wonderfully. The museum hired a lot more young blood, and a lot of outreach events have been building for months. It’s not just an exhibition. It is the revitalization and rebirth of the Penn Museum.”

Police seal off Museum of East Asian Art in Bath after attempted break-in

geo — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 05:37:44 +0000

A Bath museum was sealed off by police today after an attempted break-in.

Police teams have been working at the Museum of East Asian Art in Bennett Street, which houses almost 2,000 art objects.

The scene at the Museum of East Asian Art today

Detectives say nothing was taken in the incident, which involved three offenders.

Staff at the museum called police after the three men - dressed in white overalls and high-vis tabards - knocked on the door at 11.40am.

The trio - who had arrived in a silver Audi A6 - pushed past the member of staff to get into the building.

Within 30 seconds, they had run out of the museum again after an alarm had sounded.

Police say nothing was taken and no one was hurt.

The museum in a Georgian house contains ceramics, jades, bronzes and other treasures from China, Japan, Korea and South East Asia and is the only gallery in Britain devoted to its subject.

It was opened in 1993 and its collection dates back to the year 5000BC.

Police have appealed for anyone with information to contact them via 101.

No one has yet been arrested.

First stop for bone from Buddha skull: Hong Kong

geo — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 01:41:02 +0000

The parietal bone believed to be from the Buddha is shown at the Qixia Temple in Nanjing, China.

By Vicky Kung, for CNN

Hong Kong (CNN) – A skull bone believed to be from the original remains of the Buddha will be on display in Hong Kong for six days, the first time the relic will be displayed outside mainland China.

The parietal bone will be enshrined for worship at the Hong Kong Coliseum from April 25 to April 30. China is sending the relic to celebrate the 15th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to China, said Venerable Yin-chi, the secretary general of the Hong Kong Buddhist Association. The display also coincides with the World Buddhist Forum in the city and Buddha’s birthday, celebrated in Hong Kong on April 26.

“The Chinese government had sent us the Buddha’s tooth once in 1999 and the finger bone once in 2004,” Yin-chi said. “But this is the first time that the parietal bone is being moved away from the mainland for a public worship.”

Like the great panda, Buddha’s bones are often sent as a gesture of diplomatic friendliness to countries where Buddhism thrives.

China, India, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Singapore and Taiwan possess bones or teeth purported to be relics of Sakyamuni Buddha, the founder of Buddhism. In 2011, India lent relics to Indonesia for the 2,600th anniversary of Buddha’s enlightenment. China, which has most of the relics, has lent bones to South Korea, Thailand, Myanmar, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

The skull fragment, unearthed in 2008 at the Grand Da Bao’en Temple in Nanjing, China, is described as the “highest spiritual object in Buddhism” by Venerable Hong-ming, the executive vice president of the Hong Kong Buddhist Association.

“ ‘Buddha’ literally means ‘the awakened one,’ ” Yin-chi said. “In Buddhism, we do not believe in a god who is the creator, but we strive to be spiritually awakened, like Sakyamuni did with his supernatural wisdom. The cremated remains of the Buddha are encouragement to all Buddhist followers who want to be awakened, so the bones are highly venerated.”

Together with the Buddhist Association of China and the China Religious Culture Communication Association, The Hong Kong Buddhist Association will organize a “Grand Blessing Ceremony” to welcome the relic to the city.

“We sometimes call the Buddha’s birthday the Bathing-Buddha Festival,” Yin-chi said. “Believers sprinkle water on the infant statue of Sakyamuni to commemorate his birth. This is because according to the legends, nine dragons sprayed water when Sakyamuni was born. The rain symbolizes the cleansing of one’s soul and purity.”

Hong Kong first included the Buddha’s birthday on its list of public holidays in 1999, two years after its reunification with China.

“The official acknowledgement might be one reason why Buddhism blossomed in Hong Kong,” Yin-chi said. “Such publicity helps, but Buddhism was pervasive here long before 1999. More and more people believe because Buddhism inspires people who are looking for the meaning in life.”

The Editors - CNN Belief Blog

Residents furious over’destruction’ of murals

geo — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 06:06:45 +0000

NANVillagers claim restoration work by the Fine Arts Department has damaged murals at a historic temple in Wiang Sa district and also fear valuable religious relics may have been stolen.

NO PRAISE: Locals say renovations at Bun Yuen Temple did more harm than good.

The residents said the wall at Bun Yuen Temple’s ceremonial hall, which was decorated with old murals, had been ‘’renovated'’ by being covered with white paint.

Some also suspect that valuables kept under the main Buddha statue and in the middle of the ceremonial hall might have been removed.

Prasit Poramaphichai, a Ban Bun Yuen villager in Wiang Sa district, said all of the murals at the hall had disappeared after workers covered the wall with white paint.

Mr Prasit said he had been saddened by the disappearance of the murals, which chronicled the legend of Lord Buddha’s 10 lives.

Another resident said the paintings could be between 30 and 40 years old. They held emotional value for locals in tambon Klang Wiang where Bun Yuen Temple is located.

‘’The renovation that has left no trace of the original paintings could be called destruction,'’ he said.

He said there were traces of new cement at the foundation of the main Buddha statue in the ceremonial hall and in the middle of the hall.

Residents suspected that some workers might have dug into two spots and removed sacred valuables, which are believed to have been buried there.

The villagers called on authorities to investigate whether any valuable items had been removed from the temple during the restoration work.

Banchop Chaila, a lay keeper of the temple, admitted the temple had not consulted local residents about the renovation. As the temple has been listed as a historic site by the Fine Arts Department, the department had full authority to make decisions on its renovation.

Ban Bun Yuen village chief, Thanyaphon Khamthaen, said she would call a meeting of local residents to talk about ways to correct the renovation. She would ask the Fine Arts Department to assign representatives to join the talks.

The Fine Arts Department has played down concern over the damage to the murals.

The mural was painted in 1984, so it was not an ancient Lanna mural like those found in Nan province, Fine Arts Office Region 7 director Metadol Vijakkana said.

He said the ceremonial hall had been severely damaged by flooding and humidity, so the officials needed to extract the old cement wall otherwise the dampness could destroy the hall’s structure.

The department had allocated 76 million baht for the project. Mr Metadol said Fine Arts officials would hold a meeting with locals soon to explain the project.

The discontent over the Wat Bun Yuen restoration project came weeks after the protest against the Fine Arts Department’s restoration of the ancient Phra That Lampang Luang temple in Lampang province.

Locals and art experts said the restoration work had damaged much of the temple’s traditional northern art including gold murals that are more than 300 years old.