Stone Seated Vairocana Buddha

The Stone Seated Vairocana Buddha is a stone seated Buddha image held at the Kyungpook National University Museum, and it displays the typical style of Vairocana Buddha images that were popular in the late Unified Silla period. The head is covered with small, snail-shell-shaped curls, and the face is large and round in proportion to the body. Whereas Vairocana images of the period typically have neat yet solemn faces, this statue is distinctive for its full face and the smile at the eyes and mouth. The robe covers both shoulders thickly, and its folds are rendered in a stylised manner. The shoulders are narrow, giving the body a markedly diminutive appearance, and the figure sits with both feet resting on the knees, soles turned upward. The hands are in the gesture typical of Vairocana Buddha images, with the right hand wrapped around the index finger of the left hand. The halo, which represents the light radiating from the Buddha's body, is boat-shaped and rendered very large in relation to the statue. Five small Buddhas with palms joined in prayer are carved on the halo, and flame patterns are delicately rendered along its edge. The octagonal pedestal on which the Buddha sits is carved with elaborate floral designs and animal figures, but these too are treated in a fairly stylised way. With its narrow shoulders, flat chest, small build and style of robe, the work well illustrates the general characteristics of Vairocana Buddha images of the time, and it appears to have been made around the same period as the Stone Seated Vairocana Buddha of Donghwasa Temple, a treasure made in the third year of King Gyeongmun of Silla (863).

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Where it is

Region

Buk-gu, Daegu

Designation

Treasure · 보물