India’s largest statue of the Reclining Buddha will be installed at the Buddha International Welfare Mission temple in Bodh Gaya.
About Reclining Buddha
A reclining Buddha statue or image represents ‘The Buddha’ during his last illness, about to enter Parinirvana, the stage of great salvation after death that can only be attained by enlightened souls.
It is a popular iconographic depiction in Buddhism, and is meant to show that all beings have the potential to be awakened and be released from the cycle of death and rebirth. It was first depicted in Gandhara art (50 BC – 75 AD) and peaked during the Kushana period from the first to the fifth centuries AD.
Reclining Buddha Sculptures in India
In India, Cave No. 26 of Ajanta contains a 24-foot-long and nine-foot-tall sculpture of the Reclining Buddha, believed to have been carved in the 5th century AD. There is a 6-metre-long red sandstone monolith statue of the Reclining Buddha inside the Parinirvana Stupa in Kushinagar.
