Kyauk Taw Gyi Paya Festival
The largest Buddha in
Kyauk Taw Gyi is carved in marble quarried from a
hill near Mandalay. All Buddha images sit or stand in a certain way and the
position of their hands has a certain meaning or mudra. A seated Buddha
with legs crossed, feet and hands both upturned and eyes down-turned are in dhyanasana
mudra or ‘meditative’ pose. If the left upturned hand rests in the lap and
the right down-turned rests on the right knee with fingers touching the ground,
it is bhumisparsa mudra or `earth touching’ pose. Here the Buddha called
on the guardian of the earth to witness his charity towards the evil mara
that continually attacked him.
Photo by Win Kyaing
A tall slim Buddha
here stood behind a wrought-iron screen and I thought the mudra might be one of
the bithetkaguru or `healing’ Buddhas. His right hand was open, facing
outwards and downwards with two fingers presenting a small fruit called hpan
khar (Terminalia chebula retz)). This astringent
fruit is used in traditional medicine for burns, sore eyes and longevity if
taken with milk every week.
In the museum at the
Maha Muni Pagoda are paintings of most of the mudra and we went to check out my
theory – which was wrong. I learned that the bithetkaguru or `healing’
Buddha is seated, not standing and the image sits cupping
in his left hand a covered bowl symbolizing a container of blessed water.
Photo by Win Kyaing
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