Samadhi Buddha Statue

The Samadhi Statue (Samadhi means in deep meditation) is a statue situated at Mahamevnawa Park in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. This is a work of an anonymous master-sculptor of the Anuradhapura period who has breathed life into a solid rock

The road goes through the site of the 11th century palace of king Vijayabahu I to the superb statue of the serene Buddha with an expression depicting 'extinction of feeling and compassion'. Roofed to protect it form the weather, it probably dates form the 3rd century AD.

The Buddha is depicted in the position of the Dhyana Mudra, the posture of meditation associated with his first Enlightenment, also called Nirvana. Whether the Buddha's Enlightenment was the experience technically called Samadhi, or some other phenomenon, may depend upon the philosophical allegiance of the believer. In the Dhyana Mudra the Buddha sits cross - legged with his upturned palms placed one over the other on his lap. This position is universally known throughout the Buddhist world, and this statue is therefore one of the most typical pieces of Buddhist sculpture. It is not to be confused with the very similar "Earth-Touching Mudra", which depicts the simple action the Buddha took to fend off the illusions projected by Mara, who was desperate to prevent the Buddha from realizing that his, Mara's, projections, and with them the entire world, are an illusion.

Samadhi Buddha statue is considered one of the best crafts made during the Anuradhapura era . This Samadhi statue is one of the eight sacred places (Atamasthana) at Anuradhapura. By a single glance at it, the statue has the capability to throw away ones agitation and to winds down the mind.

The statue is made up of granite and is considered more than 8 feet (2.4 m) in height. It is also believed that the eyes of the statue were impressed with precious stones as they are hollow. The characteristic feature of this great ancient craft is that it gives three different emotions when looking at the face of the statue from front, left side and from right side.

When someone looks at the face of the Samadhi Buddha statue from the right side, it shows a slight sadness and from the left side a slight smile indicating happiness, while from the front it gives neutral feelings. Buddhism is a philosophy that teaches the people to accept sadness and joy as normal occurrings in their lives and it teaches people not to be overridden by those feelings. Some think, the expression change as the sun's light moves across it.

Samadhi Statue is said to belong to the Abhayagiri period of the 3rd or 4th century of Sri Lanka’s history. The statue was found in 1888 and there was damage to the nose which has been now reconstructed. But still, the reconstruction has given some artificial appearance to the face which indicates, how brilliant and precise the ancient stone craftsmanship was during that ancient Anuradhapura era which was many centuries back, by appreciating the fact that it is difficult even to be replaced it by modern high technologies.

The popularity of the present statue is mostly due to late Indian Prime minister Sri Jawaharlal Nehru who found great solace in meditating looking at a picture of this statue during the period he was imprisoned. Jawaharlal Nehru admired it when he first saw the statue in 1931. He was so enthralled by this image that he is said to have kept a photograph of the statue in his prison cell from which he drew inspiration while serving a prison sentence during the British Raj.

Benjamin Rawland, in his book "Art and Architecture of India" describes the statue as, "The perfect embodiment of the idea of Samadhi is conveyed through the very simplicity of conception; the perfect material equilibrium of the figure connotes the perfect mental state of the Sakyamuni (Gautama Buddha) through the massive stability of the triangular base formed by the inter locked legs mounted by the erect column body which supports the perfectly impassive mask like face".