Four basic postures are often portrayed.

Standing, sitting and walking – reflecting the daily activities of the Lord Buddha such as teaching, meditating and offering refuge to his disciples.

Reclining

This posture represents Buddha’s final moments when he had attained ‘ultimate nirvana’.

Maravijaya Buddha of the Lopburi School

Limestone torso of the Buddha, Dvaravati school, displayed in the open area under the dining room wing of the house. Dating from the late 7th or 8th century AD, this torso was found at Lopburi Province in Central Thailand.

Jim Thompson’s Collection of Buddhist Art

(13th- 14th century)

Bhumisparsa or “Touching the Earth” or Maravijaya or “Victory over Mara”

The hand position signifies the meditation stage in the life of Buddha when he sat beneath the banyan tree in Bodhgaya, India and vowed not to budge until he had gained enlightenment.

Standing Buddha, Lopburi School, 12th century. The hands are in the Abahaya Mudra position, a gesture displaying the ‘absence of fear’

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