Every designer understands when a client wants a space that’s relaxed as well as peaceful, there’s only one route to choose the interior decoration, and that’s East. Consider water features, bonzai, elegant plants, lovely screens and spectacular sculptures. It is possible to create a feel of the orient in numerous ways, but among the simplest would be to add a sculpture of the Buddha. There are more than one hundred ‘standard’ positions and three distinct orientations for these statues, so there is bound to be one that would be perfect for virtually any space or room, even when it’s an awkward shape or dimensions.

Buffets along with desks all seem to benefit from a seated Buddha, backyards and balconies might be just right for a standing Buddha, yet quite a few areas need an item much wider than tall. There an excellent thing is a reclining Buddha.

Most Buddha statues display 32 features believed to have been bodily characteristics of the first Gautama Buddha who was born around 563 BC. They are also referred to 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 wasn’t in favor of representations of his own body, and therefore the real question is actually, why are there any statues of the Buddha at all?

It appears this may be another thing which can be attirbuted to  the Greeks, and on one Greek in particular, Alexander the Great. When Alexander  occupied India and Afghanistan, the leader left lots of military and artisans behind, hence the art associated with the region had been greatly affected by classical sculpture, and through Greek concepts of Gods and mortals. Alexander was well-known for taking pleasure in the imitation of his own visage, understanding the value of portraits and statues as items of propaganda.

This may be why Alexandrian India, with a partly Greek population as well as ties to Greek tradition, was the first area to create Buddha statues. These proved exceptionally popular and the idea propogagted with Buddhism itself, however as Islam restricted the manifestation of the human form and considered such statues as idolatry,  countless ancient and exquisite statues of the Buddha in that area have since been destroyed.

There are a couple of established poses for these sculptures that refer to certain concepts or occasions in the life of the Buddha.

But the most significant is the reclining pose of the Buddha. Presently there are 2 versions. The first portrays the Buddha, resting with his head on his arm. This is the sleeping Buddha, but the other similar pose, where Buddha’s feet are together, signifies the day the Buddha entered Nirvana.

Aged 80, the Buddha took a moment to rest and informed his followers he was about to enter parinirvana, the state that happens whenever the physical body of someone that has achieved complete awakening or enlightenment ultimately passes away. He ate his last meal and after that grew to become strongly sick. He asked his followers for any concerns they had and when there weren’t any he gave them his last instructions. “All composite things pass away. Strive for your own liberation with diligence.” Tradition states that that when his body was set between the sala trees, the plants bloomed, even though this was not the season.

This is the day symbolized by the reclining Buddha statue.  In Thailand the most common pose 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 refers to the specific of the Buddha’s enlightenment.

Whichever form your room, there is a Buddha statue that will fit, bringing a feeling of serenity and harmony to all your surroundings.