The Toluvila statue is a seated image of the

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

discovered in 1900 in

Anuradhapura Anuradhapura (, ; , ) is a major city located in the north central plain of Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of North Central Province, Sri Lanka, North Central Province and the capital of Anuradhapura District. The city lies north of the cur ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

, that dates back to the 4th or 5th century. Carved out of granite, it is one of the best-preserved sculptures from Sri Lanka and is similar to the

Samadhi statue The Samadhi Buddha is a famous statue situated at Mahamevnāwa Gardens, Mahamevnāwa Park in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. The Buddha is depicted in the position of the ''Dhyana Mudra,'' the posture of meditation associated with his first Enlightenme ...

of Anuradhapura. Some features of the statue indicate that it may have been influenced by the Mathura School. The statue is now kept at the

National Museum of Colombo The Colombo National Museum, also known as the Sri Lanka National Museum, is a museum in Colombo and the largest in Sri Lanka. Founded in 1877 and maintained by the Department of National Museums, it holds collections of significant importance ...

Appearance and characteristics

The Toluvila Buddha statue is considered to be a masterpiece, and is one of the best examples of the ancient Sri Lankan sculpting art, along with the

. The Toluvila statue is also one of the best-preserved images of the Buddha that has been found in Sri Lanka. It is carved out of a single block of

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

, and bears a close resemblance to the Samadhi statue, although slightly smaller. The Toluvila statue is in height. It shows the Buddha seated with his legs crossed and hands together in meditation, depicting the '' dhyana mudra''. The seating style is known as ''weerasana''. The distance between the shoulders is , while the knees are apart. While many other Buddha statues from the same period have long, hanging earlobes, the Toluvila statue lacks this feature. Another unusual feature is three lines that have been carved into the front of the neck that are believed to have been influenced by the Mathura School of

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 ...

. It is possible that seated Buddha images, such as the one found at the Wat Phra Borom That temple in

Chaiya Chaiya (, ) is a former capital district ('' Amphoe mueang'') of Surat Thani province, Southern Thailand. The main town is Talat Chaiya. Geography Neighboring districts are (from the south clockwise): Tha Chang and Kapoe of Ranong province; ...

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

, may have been influenced to some extent by statues of the Anuradhapura period like the Toluvila statue.

History

Historians believe that it dates back to the latter part of the

Anuradhapura period The Anuradhapura period was a period in the history of Sri Lanka of the Anuradhapura Kingdom from 377 BCE to 1017 CE. The period begins when Pandukabhaya, King of Upatissa Nuwara moved the administration to Anuradhapura, becoming the kingdom' ...

, specifically the 4th or 5th century. It was found in 1900 during archaeological excavations conducted in the village of Toluvila in Anuradhapura by archaeologist

Harry Charles Purvis Bell Harry Charles Purvis Bell, CCS (21 September 1851 – 6 September 1937), more often known as HCP Bell, was a British civil servant and the first Commissioner of Archaeology in Ceylon. Early life Born in British India in 1851, he was sent to ...

. According to him, it was the best historical artifact found in Anuradhapura. The statue was later taken to the

, where it is kept to this day. The museum identifies it as the "most significant" sculpture of ancient Sri Lanka that it possesses, and it is displayed directly in front of the main entrance to the building.

References

*von Schroeder, Ulrich. (1990). ''Buddhist Sculptures of Sri Lanka''. (752 p.; 1620 illustrations). Hong Kong: Visual Dharma Publications, Ltd. *von Schroeder, Ulrich. (1992). ''The Golden Age of Sculpture in Sri Lanka – Masterpieces of Buddhist and Hindu Bronzes from Museums in Sri Lanka'', atalogue of the exhibition held at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Washington, D. C., 1 November 1992 – 26 September 1993 Hong Kong: Visual Dharma Publications, Ltd. {{DEFAULTSORT:Toluvila Statue Anuradhapura Sri Lankan art Buddha statues Stone Buddha statues