This gilt copper alloy representation of a kneeling monk, and its mate M.2003.231.2, were created to be placed on each side of the main image of Buddha Shakyamuni in a Buddhist temple. This compositional triad was popular in Southeast Asia, for example, see M.86.342.2 and M.90.57. As determined by the direction of the monk’s lower legs, this sculpture was intended to be placed to the proper left of the Buddha. He is likely intended to represent Maudgalyayana, one of his two principal disciple monks. The second monk, Shariputra, would have been on the proper right side.
The monk has shorn hair and empty elongated earlobes, both symbolic of his renunciation of the material world when he joined the monastery. His robe is worn over his left shoulder only. He holds his hands together in the gesture of adoration (anjali mudra). He sits on a lotus base atop a multitiered pedestal adorned with floral motifs.
See also M.82.132.2, M.83.254, and M.89.101.1.
