- Title
- Buddha Shakyamuni Sheltered by the Serpent King Muchalinda
- Date Made
- late 13th century
- Medium
- Sandstone
- Dimensions
- 20 x 15 x 8 in. (50.8 x 38.1 x 20.3 cm)
- Accession Number
- AC1998.62.1
- Collecting Area
- South and Southeast Asian Art
- Curatorial Notes
This image depicts a legendary episode from the life of the historical Buddha Shakyamuni. After he had attained Enlightenment at Bodhgaya, the Buddha began to meditate beneath a tree. A terrible rainstorm arose that threatened to interrupt the Buddha’s meditation, so for seven days the serpent king Muchalinda spread his polycephalic hood over the Buddha to protect him from the rain and coiled his body underneath the Buddha to lift him above the rising rainwater. Although the type of image originated in the Buddhist art of India, it was never as commonly represented in art as it was in Cambodia, Thailand, and Laos.
In this fragmentary image, the Buddha sits serenely in meditation. Muchalinda’s hood forms a protective canopy over his head. He has a pointed cranial protuberance symbolizing his omniscience (ushnisha), snail curl hair, and distended earlobes. His shorn hair and empty earlobes indicate his renunciation of his princely life when he wore long hair and heavy golden ear ornaments. The Buddha’s monastic robe covers his left shoulder only and has a stylized hem flap hanging down across his chest.
