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BEIJING, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) — An exhibition featuring ancient Buddha statues which date back thousands of years has opened to the public at the National Museum of China in Beijing.

A total of 171 pieces (sets) of cultural relics are being showcased, including 131 Buddha statues from the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534) to the Tang Dynasty (618-907), most of which are made of white marble and are painted or gilded.

The exhibition mainly displays Buddha statues unearthed in 2012 from Yecheng, a historic site in Hebei Province’s Linzhang County.

Yecheng, which once served as a political center in ancient China, is famous for its Buddhism culture and is representative of Chinese Buddhism art due to its exquisiteness, variety in style and themes of its Buddha statues.

The exhibition, split into three individual parts, will run until Oct. 6.

The Great Buddha statue in the ancient capital of Nara, western Japan, has undergone its annual cleaning ahead of the midsummer Bon Festival.

The 15-meter-high statue at Todaiji temple is dusted off every year on August 7. The cleaning is designed to prepare for the festival, when people pay respects to their ancestors.

On Wednesday morning, priests conducted a ceremony to temporarily remove the Buddha’s soul from the statue.

About 180 priests and worshippers then climbed onto the statue to clean and polish, using brooms and dusters.

Some were raised in baskets suspended from the ceiling of the hall housing the statue so they could clean parts those on the statue cannot reach, including its face and chest.

Many people came to watch the cleaning.

A student of cultural properties from neighboring Osaka Prefecture said it was her first time to see the process and she was very impressed that the work involves so many people.

Jacqueline Dennis Subhash, Head of Christie’s Indian, Himalayan and Southeast Asian Art department, explains how and why this sculpture was made, and recalls her visits to the bronze workshops of the Kathmandu Valley

Almost half a metre in height, this large, gilt-bronze figure of a buddha was made some time between the 17th and 18th centuries by the renowned Newari artisans of the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal.

‘The Newari have been making Buddhist statues since at least the sixth century, transmitting deep iconographical knowledge gleaned from sacred texts through the generations,’ explains Jacqueline Dennis Subhash, the head of Christie’s Indian, Himalayan and Southeast Asian Art department.

Twenty years ago, when Subhash was a Tibetan Studies undergraduate at university in Kathmandu, she regularly visited their workshops. ‘There are foundries everywhere throughout the valley, still alive and well,’ she says. ‘Even today you could walk into one and commission a gilt-bronze statue of your choice.’

‘This sculpture would have been a treasure from the moment it was made’

LOPBURI, Thailand: Thousands are flocking to see a Buddhist temple in central Thailand exposed after drought drove water levels to record lows in a dam reservoir where it had been submerged.

Source: Reuters/ga

By Phong Vinh
This colorful pagoda is a place of worship for Khmer people in Tinh Bien Town, the Mekong Delta province of An Giang.

Moi Pagoda, built by the Khmer, is situated on Road 91, 2 km from the Tinh Bien International Border Market. It is home to Theravada monks and also a place of worship for Khmer people in the Xuan Hoa residential cluster.

Its architecture is a combination of the Khmer’s decorative art and the colorful designs of the Angkor culture. From its gates and roofs to interiors, there are numerous figures of birds, nymphs and Naga, the god of snakes.

The main hall has a high ceiling. An idol of the Buddha seated on a lotus is in the middle of the hall. The year of construction is recorded on a wall: 2421 in the Buddhist calendar. We are now in 2563.

Surrounding the Buddha idol are sharp sculptural details in vivid colors.

Inside the main hall are paintings about the life and teachings of the Buddha.

Outside the main hall, under a canopy of palm trees is a long line of towers built by Buddhist followers. The towers are in many different sizes depending on the donation made by each family.

Chau Phol, who has been a voluntary worker here for more than 50 years, said the pagoda retains its original architecture. “We have just opened a new hall for welcoming guests and organizing festivals.”

The pagoda has a lot of greenery with many kinds of trees.

Despite his limited Vietnamese, Phol often tells visitors about the history of the pagoda.

In Khmer tradition, local people and Buddhists come to the pagoda to help prepare for festivals and other special celebrations. This photo shows making of flowers for decoration during the inauguration of the pagoda’s new hall.

Archaeologists in Afghanistan have discovered exceptionally rare pieces of an ancient Buddhist manuscript dated to around the seventh century AD at an ancient settlement near Kabul.

In the spring of 1963, a French geologist set out from Kabul to survey a large outcrop of copper-bearing strata in the mountains above the village of Mes Aynak, approximately 40 kilometers southeast of Kabul in Logar province in eastern Afghanistan. There, he discovered a vast religious settlement occupied between the third and seventh centuries located at a key location on the famed Silk Road connecting Asia and the Middle East.

Now, if you ask people to name the world’s oldest printed book the most common reply is Gutenberg’s Bible , but Buddhist texts, the Diamond Sutra for example, that was printed in AD 868, was compiled about 550 years before Gutenberg was born. Regarding these newly discovered texts the Japanese daily The Mainichi reported that an Afghan archaeological institute stated, “The sutras written in Sanskrit on tree bark and were discovered on a hillside a few years ago in Mes Aynak ,” and it is suspected that the manuscripts might have been “housed in an archive.”

The entrance to the Ky Quang 2 stone pagoda is door-less, following the Buddha’s precept of welcoming all sentient beings.

The Ky Quang 2 Pagoda in Saigon’s Go Vap District, built mostly of stone, has no doors. Instead, two statues of the Buddha stand and sit at the entrance.

Venerable Thich Thien Chieu, the pagoda’s abbot since 1975, said the architecture was a harmonious combination of Buddhist teachings and Vietnamese culture.

“The pagoda has no roof to see in every direction, no doors to welcome all beings, no walls and no pillars that separate and limit human beings.”

A three-meter tall gold-plated Buddha statue on a lotus is placed on top of the pagoda’s gate. The work is called Thien Tam Linh or Divine Spirit, which resides between heaven and earth.

Built in 1926, the Ky Quang 2 Pagoda started out as a village pagoda in Go Vap District and was originally named Thanh Chau Tu. In 2000, it was completely rebuilt on an area of nearly 7,500 square meters. The complex was designed by the abbot.

Different Buddha statues are placed underneath the Bodhi tree inside the pagoda.

The entrance to the main building is a series of steps inside a rock cave.

Inside the hall of the main building is a series of marble Buddha statues. This is the place of chanting and meditation for monks, nuns and worshippers. The two sides of this dome are stylized in the shape of a lotus.

La Thi Xuan Ly, 82, a resident of Go Vap District, said: “I come here every week to pray. The pagoda looks beautiful and has a calm feeling as if it is our house.”

A shrine dedicated to worship the Hung Kings (2879-258 BCE), the nation’s mythical founders, and Mother Au Co, a mountain fairy honored as the mother of Vietnamese civilization.

The shrine is also decorated with banh chung (square rice cake) and banh day (round rice cake), Vietnam’s two traditional cakes.

A section of the pagoda is decorated with Bodhisattva Buddha statue litted up with colorful lights.

The pagoda also has Tran Nhan Tong, third emperor of the Tran Dynasty, reigning Dai Viet from 1278 to 1293 as a deity. The emperor and his father were supreme commanders who led the Tran Dynasty to final victories against the Mongol invaders, ushering in a long period of peace and prosperity in the country.

The pagoda is also a shelter where abandoned and disabled children are cared for. The abbot said that this activity started in 1994 and the pagoda currently takes care of more than 240 children.

UBON RATCHATHANI, Thailand, July 18 (Xinhua) — Granny Nongyao takes her granddaughter to a temple to make wax carving every year when Thailand enters the Buddhist festival Khao Phansa.

The 70-year-old devout buddhist, together with 7-year-old girl who was enjoying a two-day public holiday from Tuesday, have been carving some intricate patterns on wax for several hours in the outdoor complex of the temple in the scorching Ubon Ratchathani, a northeastern province famed for its most elaborated and largest candle festival of the country.

“Working on the carving is a pleasure. We contribute these pieces to the giant wax sculpture of the temple. Everyone is welcome to join the work. This is the way we make merits in the Khao Phansa Day,” said Nongyao who invited Xinhua journalist to make the carving.

Khao Phansa marks the start of the three-month rains retreat period which is referred to as “Buddhist Lent.”

This tradition stems from a time long before electricity had been invented. During the period monks were not permitted to travel away from their own temple and relied on candlelight more than ever to study and carry on their daily routines during the darker days of the rainy season. Originally, the donation of candles to temples was a simple and practical way to make merit.

In some provinces in Thailand, this tradition nowadays evolved into friendly competition with local communities aiming to outdo each other by creating bigger and more elaborate candles to donate. In Ubon Ratchathani, wax sculptures are created to mark the arrival of Khao Phansa.

The light yellow carving pieces growing under the grandma and granddaughter’s fingers were passed to a young craftsman sitting on ladder polishing a five-meter tall wax sculpture.

The man, head of the 15-strong team, was sticking the yellow pieces on the surface of the 3-meter tall sculpture portraying an excerpt from the story of Buddha when Queen Maya of Sakya or mother of Buddha had a vision in her dream.

“It took about 60 painstaking days to make the sculpture. It’s the last process of the piece before it’s to be displayed on parade during the Candle Festival. It’s of great charm and a sacred job, ” said the man who works on temple architectures.

Skillful artisans working on wax carving are few in the country as wax sculpture is not a major in any institute. Craftsmen in Ubon Ratchthani, a province in Thailand’s poorest northeast, are usually paid less than in big cities like Bangkok.

Fifty-three ornately carved wax deities, angels, and animals depicting Hindu and Buddhist tales were paraded through town on floats on Wednesday. Each represented a local temple, district or institution and were accompanied by dancers and musicians in traditional costume.

At the end of the parade, a winner is selected and showcased for the rest of the year at its temple. The following year, the wax is recycled and used for new wax sculptures.

The Candle Festival culminated in celebrations on Wednesday.

Children pulled colorful balloons amid folk music. Groups of men in sun hats bang out the rhythm on the long drums as local musicians picked up the beat on their country-style electric guitars. All people there were enjoying the event – elegantly dressed women danced, teenagers snapped selfies and families had picnics.

“The town is usually quiet. Tourists flock to the festival every year, helping to boost the local economy here,” said Pat, a tourist van driver.

“Locals are delighted to join it, like a big party, from making candle carvings to parading, which helps to preserve the tradition and craftsmanship. It’s the charm of the festival, something more important than tourist revenue,” said the local driver.

An incomplete piece of a statue measuring over one metre, thought to be an ancient remain, was found in the northeastern corner of Preah Ko temple in Siem Reap province’s Ov Lork village on Monday.

Ly Vanna, director of the Department of Conservation of Monuments and Preventative Archaeology with the Apsara Authority, said the statue was incomplete, noting that only the body was found, while the head, both hands and feet were missing.

“The statue is made of sandstone, and there are carvings that depict a short skirt with fishtail patterns that sits above the knee, along with a belt,” he said. “The kind of clothing is similar to that of Vishnu of Preah Ko style, as a Vishnu statue is currently displayed in the National Museum in Phnom Penh.”

“However, unfortunately the statue does not have a head or hands, which make it difficult to determine. If the statue had four hands, it can be confirmed as that of Vishnu,” he added. “But if it only has two hands, it could be Shiva. However, if we only rely on the outline of the statue, we can conclude that it is Vishnu from Brahmanism.”

He said that Apsara Authority would take the statue to clean and study for documentation before sending it for keeping in Preah Norodom Sihanouk-Angkor Museum in the future.

Thai Mech, a resident who found the statue, was quoted by the Apsara Authority as saying that he often crossed Preah Ko temple moat, but he did not notice the statue before. However, when he passed the area on Monday, he dug the ground and found the statue, which measures 1.14 metres.

“At first, I did not think it was a statue, but looking at the shape of the stone I continued to dig and found the statue,” he said. “Afterwards, I reported it to the Heritage Protection Police for safety.”

First Lieutenant Oun Yong, a heritage police in Angkor Archaeological Park’s Roluos, said people have discovered statues in the past and always reported it to the police for safe keeping and research.

“I would like to appeal to everyone who has found any statues or archaeological remains anywhere to please hand it over or report it to authorities for inspection,” he said.

Torrential rain did not keep them away. Well before the opening hour of 9 a.m. on June 8, more than 30 people were lined up at the Turner Lynch Campus Center at Oglethorpe University in Brookhaven. Juggling umbrellas, they carried boxes, shouldered backpacks and pulled suitcases holding family heirlooms and antiques in the hopes of discovering hidden treasures.

They had braved the weather for “Hidden Treasures: Unveiled,” an appraisal event organized and hosted by Oglethorpe University Museum of Fine Art (OUMA). And some surprise treasures were discovered, ranging from a centuries-old Buddha bust to a book with a dark past.

Specialists from Hindman, an internationally known auction house were on hand to appraise items. Five experts were at stations for Fine Art, Decorative Art, Asian Art, Jewelry and Books and Manuscripts. Appraisal fees went to help fund OUMA, and a portion of proceeds from any items discovered at the event and auctioned by Hindman will go to the museum as well.

Attendees came from all parts of metro Atlanta and as far away as Dahlonega and Cartersville. Two hundred people brought their treasures and 300 items were appraised, reported museum director Elizabeth Peterson, director of OUMA.

Jonathan Dickson navigated his way from East Cobb County with several heirlooms in tow, including a painting, porcelain pieces, German beer steins and a large book of Goethe’s writing. They are remnants of his father’s estate, he said. Most of them had been handed down by Dickson’s grandfather, who had lived in New York, Florida and Germany. His first stop was the Fine Art table, staffed by Kate Stamm, Hindman’s Fine Art specialist for the Southeast region.

Dickson unveiled a large full-length portrait of two young girls dressed alike in red, arms entwined. He had virtually no information on the painting, not even a title, only the artist’s last name, Hoffman.

The title may never be known, but Stamm dated the work in 1865. The piece had only minor flaws. She researched the painting after the event and sent Dickson a report four days later, identifying the artist as George C. Hoffman.

“The estimated value is in the low thousands.” said Dickson. “We will keep it as a family heirloom.” The mystery remains whether those children are on his family tree.

Dickson also visited the Decorative Art station with his porcelain pieces and German beer steins. The popular stop was manned by expert Jon King, Hindman’s senior consultant for the Southeast region, who has been in the field since the early 1980s, King has overseen collections from the estates of noted celebrities and has worked with the PBS series “Antiques Roadshow” and HGTV’s “Appraise It!”

The heirlooms Dickson laid out at the Decorative Art table are not of much value, he found out, but he said he learned some interesting information about them. His final stop was the Books and Manuscripts table, staffed by Gretchen Hause, who is a specialist in Hindman’s Fine Books and Manuscripts department.

The hefty book of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s writings was apparently given to Dr. Wilhelm Frick by the city in Germany where he lived, Hause told Dickson. Frick was Adolph Hitler’s minister of interior for 10 years and was hanged for war crimes. Another mystery for his family: Dickson said he doesn’t know how the book came into his grandfather’s possession. “Its is not entirely a happy story, but certainly a fascinating one.”

Gloria and Gary Kubik from Johns Creek set their large carton on the Decorative Art table with hopeful expectations. They lifted out a large Tiffany-style lamp shade that had long been in the office of Gary Kubik’s grandfather. His grandfather had shipped the lamp from Connecticut so the couple could bring it to the event.

“We’ve always been told it is probably a Tiffany lamp,” Gary Kubik said.

Specialist Jon King examined the shade carefully. Regretfully, he gave the Kubiks the news. It is a 1920s lamp, he told them. “But it is not an original Tiffany. Many Tiffany-style lamps and shades were made then and still are,” he said. Although there were other clues, the most obvious was the lack of a Tiffany signature or any indication that it was made in the Tiffany studio.

The Kubiks took the news well and said they would not be taking an extended vacation or retiring any time soon, but that the appraisal experience was “really fun.”

Ken Moorman of Brookhaven, accompanied by family friend, Trish Percival, stepped to the Asian Art station. Unwrapping two panels of Asian paintings, he explained to specialist Annie Wu that they had been owned by his wife’s aunt in California.

“All I ever heard about them is that they are Japanese,” he told Wu.

“No, they are Chinese, done between 1850 [and] 1870 and had been painted at a center in Jing De Zhen in central China,” said Wu. She explained that in the 19th and 20th centuries, scholars were invited to the center to paint works of art, mainly for export.

The delicate, detailed porcelain paintings on individual tiles are of classic Chinese scenes and people. Few of the scholars became well-known, although each painting is signed with the artist’s signature “chop,” or seal, in red. The writing on the paintings are descriptions or poems about the scenes, and Wu offered to have them translated for Moorman.

“The paintings and condition of the panels are important, and it is rare to find them in as good a condition as yours. Typically, they came in a set of four panels, which would likely be valued in the high thousands at auction,” said Wu, adding, “The market for Chinese art buyers is very active right now.”

Ellen Kierr Stein remembered her Buddha bust being a fixture in her parents’ homes as far back as the 1960s. It was part of an eclectic collection of artifacts from their worldwide travels, she recalled.

Wu, at the Asian Art station, filled in some details. The Buddha bust is a bronze Thai piece from the 16th or 17th century and is “very good condition,” she said.

“Buddha is an iconic image in Asian culture and the expression on his face is very important. This Buddha has a calm, benevolent expression, as is fitting.”

A highlight of the day was Kierr Stein’s surprise, on-the-spot donation of the Buddha bust to OUMA, made with her sister, Susan Kierr in memory of their parents, J.N. and Raymond Kierr.

“We were thrilled,” said John Tilford, OUMA’s curator of collections. “It’s a major contribution to our permanent collection and a wonderful addition to our Asian collection.”

–Judith Schonbak