Buddha Trail Imagine you are on a Buddhist Trail in Asia and you are keeping a diary of your journey. You will see these symbols on your trail which tell you what you need to do to find out more about the sculptures of Buddha and his followers. Art & Design Visit Activities Look & Discuss Look & Draw Look & Write Name
Buddha in focus Seated Buddha or Buddha Sakyamuni Room 47A Find this sculpture. What are your first impressions of it? Look at the size of the sculpture. Do you think it was made for a temple or for someone s home? Find the Buddhist symbol for the Wheel of Life on the sculpture. Make a drawing of this below.
Symbols, signs and their meanings Below you will find a list of some of the symbols that can be found on the sculpture and what these mean. See if you can find these and then sketch them. Symbol Meaning Sketch Hand on earth The moment of enlightenment Wheel of Law Symbol of the Buddha s teaching Long ear lobes The Buddha was once very wealthy
Symbols, signs and their meanings (continued) Symbol Meaning Sketch Bump on head The Buddha is wise and spiritual Third eye The Buddha can see things that ordinary people cannot Lotus flower A symbol of things which are pure and good
Buddha Trail In the museum you will see sculptures of Buddha and his followers that are from different parts of Asia. Find these sculptures and mark on the following map where they have come from. Warriors of Mara Room 47A Case 1 Preaching Buddha Room 47A Case 15 Buddha offering reassurance Room 47B Case 1 Standing Tara Room 47A Case 13 Bodhisattva Guanyin Room 44 Case 60 Standing Buddha Room 47A Case 14 Padmapini, the Lotus Bearer Room 47A Case 12 Descent of the Buddha from the Tusita Heaven Room 47A Case 15 Head of the Buddha China Gallery Avalokitesvara (hanging scroll) China Gallery Bodhisattva China Gallery Buddha in Flight China Gallery Scene of the Death of the Buddha Room 47A North wall Buddha Amitabha with Mandoria China Gallery
When you find the sculptures on the previous page, mark on this map where they have come from.
Art detective Go back to one of the sculptures of Buddha that you have seen on the Buddha Trail and look at it in detail. Sketch the head of the sculpture here. Look on the label near the sculpture and see if you can find some information out about it and write it down here. Now try and describe what you are looking at. Use the words on this page and the next to help you. Add your own if you can t find the right words. Scale Large Medium Small As big as a...
Art detective (continued) Part of a larger work Hanging on a wall Display For the home For a temple Blue Brown Gold Colour & tone Silver Green Rough Sculpture Red Shiny Dull Matt Paint Marble Rough Glossy Plaster Material & texture Smooth White Bold Faint Stone Cloth
Find the clues... Asanas The image of the Buddha tells us things about his life and teachings. An asana is what we call his pose. Usually you will see him standing, sitting with his legs crossed or reclining. The first two asanas are linked to episodes from his life. When you see him reclining, this symbolises his death. Draw the pose of one of the Buddhas that you found on the Buddha Trail here and then look at other sculptures from the Buddha Trail to find examples of the other poses.
Find the clues... (continued) Lakshanas Images of Buddha include symbols which tell us about Buddha s spiritual character and power. These are called lakshanas and there are 32 of them. Look at two or three sculptures of Buddha and see if you can find any of the laskshanas listed below and then draw them. Mark of the Wheel of Law on soles of feet or palms of hands Webbed fingers and toes Hairs on the head arranged in soft curls that point to the right Cheeks like a lion
Find the clues... (continued) Mudras Buddha s five hand gestures are called mudras and each one has a different meaning. Most symbolise a major event in the Buddha s life; others represent a characteristic act such as the giving of charity. Look at the Buddha s on the Buddha Trail and see if you can find the five different hand gestures and then draw them here. When you get back to school, find out what these different mudras mean. Look at our website www.vam.ac.uk/radiantbuddha