Shuradatta, the Buddha of Alms-Giving, is one of the Thirty-five Confession Buddhas of　Mahayana Buddhism popular in Tibet and worshipped by a visualization of the Thirty-five Buddhas and a recitation of the purification confessions contained in the Triskhandhadharma Sutra (Three Heaps Sutra [text]). The Three Heaps are the three Buddhist ethical precepts: Abstaining from negative deeds, Performing positive deeds, and Accomplishing beneficial results. Identified by a Tibetan inscription on the back of the base, this serene representation of Shuradatta envisions him with the standard iconographic conventions of a Buddha: a cranial protuberance (ushnisha) emblematic of his omniscience, elongated earlobes symbolizing his renunciation of the material world, and a circular sacred marking (urna) on his forehead. He wears a monastic robe with stylized pleats over his left shoulder. His hands are held in the gesture of the ‘turning of the wheel of the law’ (dharmachakrapravartana mudra). His snail-curl hair is embellished with indigo paint, characteristic of sculptures in Tibet. This image was likely produced by a Newar artist from Nepal working for a monastery in central Tibet.

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