| The history of Buddha |
 Siddharta Gautama was born in north Indian Kapilawastu (Lumbini) about 563 B.C. His father was the emperor of the Shakyas kingdom (today part of Nepal). His mother died at his birth. With sixteen years he got married to his cousin Yashodara. When he leaves the palace at the age of 29 for the first time, he decides to become a wandering ascetic. His search lasts six years, involving different ascetic exercises. At the age of 35 he perceives the essence of spirit while meditating deeply, becoming Buddha. He decides to pass on his insights and holds his first speech in front of a group of five ascets, his earliest companions. The essence of this speech builds the base of his teachings, the four noble truhts. He teaches for 45 years. The Indian cast system is not accepted by him. Buddha never understood himself as a god but as a human. At the age of 80 years he dies in Kursinara in todays India. Buddhism spreads over all Asia. India, Nepal, China, Japan, Korea, Indonesia, souteast Asia (Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar etc.) and in western culture as well. About six perscent or 500 million people confess to Buddhist religion. There is a great amount of Buddhist art from these different culture areas. The first portraits of Buddha got formed between the 2nd and 3rd century A.C. At these times the craft of sculptor was influenced by hellenistic art schools. Alexander the Great advanced over the Middle East to India and so the different cultures mixed. Indian art assimilated the influences, stone made witnesses of history originated. Today we find very different portraits of Buddha in Thailand, Japan, China and Indonesia. The Indian ones are the oldest and mostly made of hard, differently coloured sandstone or black shale. We have many portraits of Buddha from different Indian art periods in our offerings. Also from Indochina, Indonesia, Myanmar, Bali, Thailand, Japan and China. These figures are winterproof (if not otherwise stated) and can be put up in gardens.     |
