Buddha Attended by Bodhisattvas Avalokiteshvara and Maitreya

Buddha Attended by Bodhisattvas Avalokiteshvara and Maitreya

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The iconographic configuration in this Buddhist triad was favored in the Mon territories of Thailand and widely propagated in the Srivijayan regions of peninsular Thailand and Sumatra. This triad with a central Buddha flanked by Avalokiteshvara and Maitreya identified by their crown insignias—the Amitabha Buddha and a stupa, respectively—came to be of paramount importance in early ninth-century central Java. Several major temples were built under royal patronage with these ensembles (albeit with all the figures seated) as their principal cult images, those at Candi Plaosan Lor and Candi Mendut being the best preserved. cat. no. 162

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Buddha Attended by Bodhisattvas Avalokiteshvara and MaitreyaBuddha Attended by Bodhisattvas Avalokiteshvara and MaitreyaBuddha Attended by Bodhisattvas Avalokiteshvara and MaitreyaBuddha Attended by Bodhisattvas Avalokiteshvara and MaitreyaBuddha Attended by Bodhisattvas Avalokiteshvara and Maitreya

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.