Tablet with One Hundred Buddhas

About the Art

Small clay tablets impressed with images of the Buddha were a popular form of expressing one’s devotion during the Bagan period, a two-hundred-year period of vibrant culture in Myanmar. There are one hundred Buddhas on this tablet. Other tablets found in Myanmar with numerous identical Buddhas do not always have 100; the number varies. 108 is a particularly auspicious number in Buddhism. We cannot be sure about the significance of one hundred, but the sheer number gives a feeling of energy and expansion of the Buddha’s teaching.

All one hundred Buddhas are in the earth-touching mudra (bhumisparsa mudra); the legs are crossed, the left hand rests palm up on the left foot, and the right hand rests on the right knee with fingers touching the ground. This mudra symbolizes the moment the Buddha achieved enlightenment.

FEATURED IMAGE
Artist(s) unknown (Myanmar (Burma), Bagan period, about 1000–1300), Tablet with One Hundred Buddhas, about 12th century, earthenware with molded decoration, 8 1/2 x 5 1/2 inches (21.6 x 14 cm). Gift of Miss Louise Mellinger, 1955.54