Unknown
The Arhat Kalika1450-1500

Not on view

Gilt bronze sculpture of a seated figure with shaved head and open-mouthed expression, holding beads and a vessel, on a rocky base

Artist or Maker: Unknown
Title: The Arhat Kalika
Place Made: Eastern Tibet
Date Made: 1450-1500
Medium: Gilt leaded brass
Dimensions: 6 1/2 x 4 3/4 x 3 1/4 in. (16.51 x 12.07 x 8.26 cm)
Credit Line: From the Nasli and Alice Heeramaneck Collection, purchased with funds provided by the Jane and Justin Dart Foundation
Accession Number: M.81.90.18
Classification: Sculpture
Collecting Area: South and Southeast Asian Art
Curatorial Notes: The Arhat (Buddhist saint) Kalika (name derived from kala, time or black) was the scholarly son of a wealthy Brahmin in India. He became an itinerant monk (bhikshu) and attained the state of an arhat through intense meditation. He is one of the Sixteen (and later Eighteen) Great Arhats who were perfected individuals commissioned by the Buddha to be custodians of the Dharma (Buddhist law) until the arrival of the future Buddha, Maitreya.

Kalika is represented in his standard iconography as holding two large golden earrings made from offerings that he received in gratitude for having taught the Dharma to the divine beings in the Kamaloka (place of desires) heavenly realm of purification. Devotees believe that by seeing or touching the earrings, they will receive the blessings of all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. He is seated on a rocky throne in the posture of royal ease (maharajalila asana) with his right leg lying flat and his left knee raised. He is bald with his head cocked. Like the Buddha, he has elongated earlobes symbolizing his abandonment of the mundane world. He wears an outer robe (sanghati) with a floral border and a clasp near his left shoulder.

See also M.2005.154.3.
Selected Bibliography: Pal, Pratapaditya. Art of Tibet. Expanded edition. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1990.
Pal, Pratapaditya. The Art of Tibet. New York: The Asia Society, Inc., 1969.
Rhie, Marylin M. and Robert A.F. Thurman. Wisdom and Compassion: The Sacred Art of Tibet. New York: Tibet House, 1991.
Beguin, Gilles. Dieux et Demons de l'Himalaya: Art du Bouddhisme Lamaique. Paris: Grand Palais, 1977.
Reedy, Chandra L. Himalayan Bronzes: Technology, Style and Choices. Newark: University of Delaware Press, 1997.
Fisher, Robert E. Art of Tibet. London: Thames and Hudson, 1997.
Pal, Pratapaditya. Art of Tibet. Los Angeles; Berkeley, CA: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; University of California Press, 1983.

Unknown
The Arhat Kalika1450-1500

Not on view

Artist or Maker: Unknown
Title: The Arhat Kalika
Place Made: Eastern Tibet
Date Made: 1450-1500
Medium: Gilt leaded brass
Dimensions: 6 1/2 x 4 3/4 x 3 1/4 in. (16.51 x 12.07 x 8.26 cm)
Credit Line: From the Nasli and Alice Heeramaneck Collection, purchased with funds provided by the Jane and Justin Dart Foundation
Accession Number: M.81.90.18
Classification: Sculpture
Collecting Area: South and Southeast Asian Art
Curatorial Notes: The Arhat (Buddhist saint) Kalika (name derived from kala, time or black) was the scholarly son of a wealthy Brahmin in India. He became an itinerant monk (bhikshu) and attained the state of an arhat through intense meditation. He is one of the Sixteen (and later Eighteen) Great Arhats who were perfected individuals commissioned by the Buddha to be custodians of the Dharma (Buddhist law) until the arrival of the future Buddha, Maitreya.

Kalika is represented in his standard iconography as holding two large golden earrings made from offerings that he received in gratitude for having taught the Dharma to the divine beings in the Kamaloka (place of desires) heavenly realm of purification. Devotees believe that by seeing or touching the earrings, they will receive the blessings of all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. He is seated on a rocky throne in the posture of royal ease (maharajalila asana) with his right leg lying flat and his left knee raised. He is bald with his head cocked. Like the Buddha, he has elongated earlobes symbolizing his abandonment of the mundane world. He wears an outer robe (sanghati) with a floral border and a clasp near his left shoulder.

See also M.2005.154.3.
Selected Bibliography: Pal, Pratapaditya. Art of Tibet. Expanded edition. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1990.
Pal, Pratapaditya. The Art of Tibet. New York: The Asia Society, Inc., 1969.
Rhie, Marylin M. and Robert A.F. Thurman. Wisdom and Compassion: The Sacred Art of Tibet. New York: Tibet House, 1991.
Beguin, Gilles. Dieux et Demons de l'Himalaya: Art du Bouddhisme Lamaique. Paris: Grand Palais, 1977.
Reedy, Chandra L. Himalayan Bronzes: Technology, Style and Choices. Newark: University of Delaware Press, 1997.
Fisher, Robert E. Art of Tibet. London: Thames and Hudson, 1997.
Pal, Pratapaditya. Art of Tibet. Los Angeles; Berkeley, CA: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; University of California Press, 1983.