Figure of Buddha Shakyamuni

Stone sculpture in the Bagan period (11^th – 13^th century) was reserved for relatively small objects, nearly always placed in deep niches inside brick temples. Many wooden Buddha images were created in Bagan. In the museum’s two sculptures, one from the early 11th century and the other from the late 12th–13th century, the long outer robe clings tightly to the body’s smooth surface; only the hems indicate the garment’s presence. Meanwhile, the lowered right hand of one of the Buddhas symbolises the varada mudra or boon-bestowing gesture. This is the most common gesture among standing Buddha images.

Up to the early first century a.C., Buddha was only represented by symbolic devices which are only suggestive of his earthly existence, such as buddhapada, or footprint of the Buddha. The earliest stone footprints tend to have few or no auspicious symbols and only later gained in complexity and decoration. Most common symbols are the lotus flower and the Wheel of the Law (dharmachakra), which relates to Buddha’s first sermon.

In the Bagan period, buddhapada were popular works of merit and often painted over the entrances of most temples. Footprints of the Buddha continued to be commissioned in the Ava and Konbaung periods and up to the present.