The ''Dhyana Buddha'' is a statue of

Gautama Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),* * * was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist lege ...

seated in a meditative posture located in

Amaravathi Amaravati ( , Telugu: ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is located in Guntur district on the right bank of the Krishna River, southwest of Vijayawada. The city derives its name from the nearby historic site of ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. Completed in 2015, the statue is tall and is occupies a 4.5-acre site on the banks of the

Krishna River The Krishna River in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau is the third-longest in India, after the Ganga, Ganga and Godavari. It is also the fourth-largest in terms of water inflows and river basin area in India, after the Ganga, Indus and Godav ...

. It is embellished with modern reproductions of sculptures from the Amaravati School of art which flourished in the region from 200 BC to 200 AD.

History

Amaravathi mahachaitya art in Dhyana Buddha Statue

The recorded history of Amaravati and nearby

Dharanikota Dharanikota is a village in Palnadu district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the site of ancient Dhanyakataka, which was the capital of the Satavahana dynasty that ruled in the Deccan around the 1st to 3rd centuries CE. Dharanikota ...

dates back to the 5th century BC. Amaravati was the capital of

Satavahana The Satavahanas (; ''Sādavāhana'' or ''Sātavāhana'', IAST: ), also referred to as the Andhras (also ''Andhra-bhṛtyas'' or ''Andhra-jatiyas'') in the Puranas, were an ancient Indian dynasty. Most modern scholars believe that the Satavaha ...

s, who ruled from the 3rd century BC to the 3rd century AD. The Satavahanas were notable for their patronage of both Buddhism and Hinduism. The most important historic monument in Amaravathi is the Mahachaitya, which is protected by the Archaeological Survey of India and has a site museum known as the old museum. The Dhyana Buddha project was conceived by R. Mallikarjuna Rao in 2002, who was then the Deputy Director of the Social Welfare Department in Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh. Inspired by the magnificence of the Amaravati School of Art, which flourished in the region circa 200 BC – 200 AD and wanted to recreate it. The Guntur district administration provided 4.5 acre of land for the project, and construction began in 2003–04. The funds for the project were provided by the Andhra Pradesh state government, Guntur district administration,

Dalai Lama The Dalai Lama (, ; ) is the head of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. The term is part of the full title "Holiness Knowing Everything Vajradhara Dalai Lama" (圣识一切瓦齐尔达喇达赖喇嘛) given by Altan Khan, the first Shu ...

, Tourism Department, Kalachakra organisers Norbulingka, and also from the sale of greeting cards and paintings done by Mallikarjuna Rao. The Department of Tourism took over the project in 2007. The construction was completed in 2015.

Location and structure

The Dhyana Buddha statue of is located at

Amaravati Amaravati ( , Telugu language, Telugu: ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is located in Guntur district on the right bank of the Krishna River, southwest of Vijayawada. The city derives its name from the nearby his ...

. It is situated on the banks of the

in with eight pillars on a Lotus pandal.

Structure and significance

The statue was commissioned in 2003 and completed in 2015. The statue stands on massive Lotus pandal supported by eight pillars symbolizing the Buddha's

Noble Eightfold Path The Noble Eightfold Path () or Eight Right Paths () is an early summary of the path of Buddhist practices leading to liberation from samsara, the painful cycle of rebirth, in the form of nirvana. The Eightfold Path consists of eight pra ...

to attain salvation. The area is divided into four zones depicting the noble truths and five ayaka pillars for stages of life. APTDC is going to complete the Theme Park in front of the statue which is said to be opened for the public in 2018. The statue has a three-layered museum in the base underneath it, which consists of sculptures of

Amaravati art Amaravati school of art is an ancient Indian art style that evolved in the region of Amaravati (then known as Dhānyakaṭaka) in the modern-day Andhra Pradesh from 2nd century BCE to the end of the 3rd century CE. It is also called the Andhra ...

depicting scenes with Buddhist significance, most modern copies of the original

relief Relief is a sculpture, sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''wikt:relief, relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give ...

s from the Amaravati Mahachaitya stupa which are now in museums around India and the world.

References

{{Amaravati topics Buddha statues in India Buildings and structures in Guntur district Stone Buddha statues Concrete Buddha statues] Amaravati 2015 establishments in Andhra Pradesh 2015 sculptures Colossal Buddha statues in India

History

Location and structure

Structure and significance

See also

References