Ritual Crown with the Five Transcendent Buddhas

Ritual Crown with the Five Transcendent Buddhas

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Such crowns were worn by monks conducting rituals and were often part of dance costumes used in public ceremonial performances. Each of the five registers contains one of the Tathagata Buddhas (right to left): Ratnasambhava (yellow), Amitabha (red), Vairochana (white), Amoghasiddhi (green), and Akshobhya (blue). With Vairochana at center, these Buddhas preside over the directional Pure Lands. A Newari artist working in Tibet probably was responsible for this amazing crown, which is one of the earliest examples to survive.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Ritual Crown with the Five Transcendent BuddhasRitual Crown with the Five Transcendent BuddhasRitual Crown with the Five Transcendent BuddhasRitual Crown with the Five Transcendent BuddhasRitual Crown with the Five Transcendent Buddhas

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.