Although previously identified tentatively as the Medicine Buddha Bhaishajyaguru, this sculpture more likely represents Amitabha, the Jina Buddha of Infinite Light on the basis of its iconography. Both deities are frequently represented holding a bowl (patra) in their lap, with Amitabha’s vessel being a begging bowl and Bhaishajyaguru’s container being a medicine bowl.
Both deities display the gesture of meditation (dhyana mudra), but Amitabha has both hands in his lap holding the bowl, whereas Bhaishajyaguru has only his left hand in his lap holding the bowl and typically holds a myrobalan fruit in his right hand. Otherwise, this image has the standard iconographic features shared by both deities and often Buddha Shakyamuni: snail-curl hair, cranial protuberance (ushnisha) emblematic of his omniscience, elongated earlobes symbolizing his renunciation of the material world, sacred forehead marking (urna), and a monk’s robe (sanghati). He is seated on a lotus base in the meditation posture (padma asana) in front of a now-damaged throneback. See also M.77.19.12, M.77.19.13, M.80.228.3, and M.2005.108.1.
