Just about every decorator understands if a client asks for a space that is calm as well as beautiful, there’s just one direction to choose the interior decoration, and that’s East. Think fountains, bonzai, elegant flowers, lovely screens and unique sculptures. It is easy to create a feel of the orient in lots of ways, however among the easiest would be to add a statue of the Buddha. There are over one hundred ’standard’ positions and 3 distinct orientations for these statues, so there is bound to be one which would be appropriate for virtually any space, even when it is an unusual shape or size.
Side tables and desks all seem to benefit from a sitting Buddha, gardens and balconies may be just right for the standing Buddha, yet some areas need an object significantly wider than it is high. There the ideal thing is a reclining Buddha.
All Buddha statues have 32 features said to have been physical features from the first Gautama Buddha who was born in approximately 563 BC. These are also known as the ‘Thirty Two Signs of a Great Man’, and encompass:
•   flat feet
•   a pointed head
•   beautiful golden skin
•   long fingers the same length
•   long toes all the same length
•   a robe draped over one shoulder
•   long ear lobes
The Buddha was not in favor of representations of his own body, and therefore the real question is, why are there so many Buddha statues?
It appears this might be another thing that may be attirbuted to the Greeks, and on one Greek in particular, Alexander the Great. When Alexander occupied Northern India and Afghanistan, he left many military and artisans behind, hence the artwork of that region had been to a great extent inspired by classical sculpture, and by Greek ideas of Gods and mortals. Alexander was widley known for enjoying the imitation of his own face, understanding the value of paintings and sculpture as items of propaganda.
This may be the reason why Alexandrian India, with a partly Greek population as well as ties to Greek culture, was the earliest area to create Buddha statues. These proved immensely popular and the concept spread with Buddhism itself, however as Islam restricted the rendering of the human form and considered such statues as idolatry, many of the ancient and amazing statues of the Buddha in that area have since been destroyed.
There are a few established poses for these sculptures that relate to specific principles or events in the life of the Buddha.
But the most interesting is the reclining pose of the Buddha. There are 2 variations. One shows the Buddha, relaxing with his head in his hand. This is the sleeping Buddha, but the alternative pose, where Buddha’s feet are resting together, symbolizes the day the Buddha went into Nirvana.
At age eighty, the Buddha took a moment to rest and informed his followers he would soon enter parinirvana, the state that occurs whenever the body of somebody that has achieved total awakening or enlightenment ultimately passes away. He consumed his final meal and after that became strongly ill. He asked his followers for any inquiries they had and when there weren’t any he offered all of them his final directions. “All composite things pass away. Strive for your own liberation with diligence.” Custom says that when his body was put between the sala trees, the flowers bloomed, though it was not the season.
This is the moment symbolized by the reclining Buddha statue. In Thailand the most frequent position shows the Buddha with legs crossed and with his left hand in his lap while the right points to the ground, palm inward in a pose called ‘Calling the Earth to Witness’ and relates to the precise of the Buddha’s enlightenment.
Whatever shape your area, generally there is a Buddha statue which will probably fit, bringing a feeling of peace and tranquility to your home.
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