Votive Tablet
Buddha seated under the Bodhi tree in bhumisparsa mudra ("calling the earth to witness"), with two figures in adoration.
Terracotta
Burma/Myanmar; Pagan Period; 11th–12th Century
BC 87.01.37.00; Northern Illinois University
Konrad and Sarah Bekker Collection.
This votive tablet shows the Buddha beneath a trefoil arch supported by two beaded pillars and surmounted by a sikhara. Branches and leaves from the Bodhi tree, beneath which sat the Buddha sat when he achieved Enlightenment, fill the background. A leafed branch of the Bodhiemerges on the back. The Buddha is seated cross-legged on a double lotus throne. He keeps his left hand on his lap while his right hand is in the gesture of calling the Earth Goddess to witness. He is flanked by two kneeling figures.
