Sultanganj Buddha
| Sultanganj Buddha | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Year | 500-700 AD |
| Medium | Copper |
| Movement | Gupta-Pala transitional period |
| Dimensions | 2.3 m × 1 m (91 in × 39 in) |
| Location | Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, Birmingham |
The Sultanganj Buddha is a Gupta-Pala transitional period sculpture, the largest substantially complete copper Buddha figure known from the time. The statue is dated by archaeologists to between 500 and 700 AD. It is 2.3 m high and 1 m wide and weighs over 500 kg. It was found in the North Indian town of Sultanganj, Bhagalpur district, Bihar in 1861 during the construction of the East Indian Railway. It is now held by Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, Birmingham, England.
The Sultanganj Buddha was cast in pure, unrefined copper by the cire perdue, or lost wax, technique. It stands with his right hand raised in abhayamudra (a gesture of reassurance or protection), and his left hand is held downwards with palm outwards, said to indicate granting a favour. The end of the monastic robe is held between the thumb and forefinger of this hand in the manner that is still practised by Theravadin monks.
E. B. Harris, the railway engineer who discovered the Buddha during excavations that he carried out on ancient remains near the Sultanganj station that he was constructing, published a detailed account of his work, complete with a site plan and photographs. He describes finding the right foot of the Buddha ten feet under the surface, beneath a floor he considered to have been used to conceal the statue after it had been toppled from its former place. Harris sent the statue to Birmingham, the cost of its transport to England being paid by Samuel Thornton, a Birmingham manufacturer of ironmongery. Thornton, himself a former mayor of Birmingham, offered it to the Borough Council for their proposed Art Museum in 1864. In Birmingham, a town that boasted a thousand trades, the Art Museum was intended to be an exemplar and inspiration for local metalworkers and other artisans.
Over the years, it has been shown in a number of prominent locations throughout Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (BMAG) and remains an indispensable display item. It was the foundation donation to the collections and is BMAG's most treasured possession. Harris's report shows him with the Buddha and a number of smaller finds. They included two much smaller standing Buddhas in stone: one is now in the British Museum and the other in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco. A stone Buddha head, also from Sultanganj, is now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
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