First Storey
Hundred Dragons Hall Topics
First Storey Topics
Hundred Buddhas
Location Description
Inside the Hundred Dragons Hall, you will notice that both sides of the walls are brimming with statues of 100 Buddhas, blessing all who come to Buddha Tooth Relic Temple & Museum. Surrounding these 100 Buddhas are the gilt Maitreya Gaus. Above them hangs the gilt keman, framed by the Hundred Dragons encircling the whole hall.
About Hundred Buddhas in Buddha Tooth Relic Temple & Museum
Occupying the left and right walls of the Hundred Dragons Hall are the statues, arranged in columns (two statues are stacked vertically to form one column), constituting twenty- five columns on each side. These twenty- five columns are sub-divided into two main groups of nine columns each and one smaller group of seven columns. The latter is nearer to the main entrance.
The depiction of Buddhas is generally based on the list of thirty- two major signs and eighty minor indications of a 'Great Being' as outlined in the Lakkhana Sutta, the Brahmayu Sutta and the Agamas of the Chinese Buddhist canon. A so-called 'Great Being' refers to either a Buddha (such as Buddha Shakyamuni) or Chakravatin kings.
As always, historical and cultural factors must be taken into consideration when examining the diverse styles of Buddha images produced across Asia, where artists subjectively interpreted the Buddha in his or her own vision of the major signs and minor marks.
All the Hundred Buddha statues are crafted in accordance with the traditional Chinese Buddhist iconography. Seated in padmasana pose on a double lotus base and throne, backed by a green-yellow aureole rimmed with flames, and hair gathered up into an ovoid bun with an orange ushnisha in front, they sport dark blue curled mounds of hair and a chubby face. With slightly open eyes framed by thin tapering eyebrows and a protruding urna on their foreheads, they gaze gently downwards, exuding love and compassion with their gentle smiles. Their bodies are golden and they wear the three-piece maroon- coloured ornate robes of an ordained person.
Every Buddha statue of the 100 Buddhas has different mudras (hand signs) and holds different Buddhist implements or accessories. These symbolize their virtues and powers, both material and spiritual. These symbols can be divided into several categories, for example: lotuses (padma), thunderbolt scepters (vajra), bells (ghanta), wheels (chakra), weapons (ayudha), pots (kalasa), maces (gada), ritual accessories and instruments.
About Hundred Buddhas
In "The Sutra of the Names of the One Hundred Buddhas", the Buddha told Sariputra,
"If a devout man or woman hears the name of the present Buddha and cherishes it, he/she will be protected from all evil, accumulate immense merit, accomplish the Bodhisattva's way and gain knowledge of the past, present and future. Moreover, he/she will be good-looking with complete sense faculties and be in the presence of all Buddhas, thus swiftly attaining peerless Enlightenment."
The same Sutra states that,
"these Hundred Buddhas have the perfect ability to help the world and whoever cherishes the hundred holy names, learns by heart, recites, copies, makes offerings reverently and expounds these names will have his greed, hatred, ignorance and fear purified."
About Names of Hundred Buddhas
In "The Sutra on the Production of Buddha Images" of the Taisho Tripitaka 692, Robert H. Sharf's translation:
The Buddha said: "A person of this world who produces an image of the Buddha will, in a later life, have clear eyes and a handsome appearance; his body, hands, and feet will always be excellent. One born in heaven will also be exceptional among the gods in his purity, with exquisite eyes and countenance. Such is the fortune obtained by one who produce an image of the Buddha."
"The place in which one who produces an image of the Buddha is born is devoid of defilement; the bodies of those born there are flawless. After death he will attain birth in the seventh Brahma heaven. Moreover, surpassing all the other gods, his handsome appearance and beauty will be without peer, and he will be honoured by all the gods. Such is the fortune obtained by one who produces an image of the Buddha."
Development of Buddha Tooth Relic Temple & Museum - Hundred Buddhas
These statues were carefully handcrafted by Taiwan Huangmu Art Center at Miao Li, Taiwan.
In 2005, Venerable Chao Khun Fa Zhao visited the workshop in Taiwan to discuss and finalise the designs.
The blessing ceremony for the commencement of wood carving for the Buddha Maitreya and Bodhisattva Cintamanicakra Avalokitesvara was held on 7 November 2005, led by Venerable Chao Khun Fa Zhao together with the Sangha from Taiwan and devotees from Singapore. By then, some model statues were completed.
Venerable Chao Khun Fa Zhao visited the workshop in January 2006 to inspect the size, shape and quality of the carved samples.
Venerable Chao Khun Fa Zhao, on another visit to the workshop, inspected the painted samples for their colour and gold linings.
The completed Hundred Buddhas were shipped back to Singapore and temporarily housed at our Dining Hall, for final touch ups.
The special lacquer cabinets for housing the Hundred Buddhas and Maitreya Gaus were produced by the Chin Ting Enterprise Co Ltd in Fuzhou, China and shipped to Singapore for installation and final touch up work.
The special Japanese brocade cloth used for the background was selected after numerous visits to Kyoto, Japan.
The sponsorship of each of these Hundred Buddhas was $100,000.
About Kemans in Buddha Tooth Relic Temple & Museum
Above each column of the statues of the Hundred Buddhas is hung a keman, resulting in twenty-five kemans on each side, totalling fifty in the hall.
Each keman is an oval decorative gilt pendant disc with a central vertical thin ribbon motif dividing it into left and right areas. Both areas contain a small plain circular plaque with a repoussé Sanskrit character in the middle. These plaques, supported by lotuses, are surrounded by and connected to floral motifs such as tendrils, leaves, flower buds and flowers filling the rest of the internal space of the kemans. Suspended from the kemans are five ornamental strings of trinkets made of precious stones and other tiny floral pendants.
Except for the Sanskrit characters depicted, all the kemans are almost identical.
About Keman, with Kalavinka
A keman (Japanese: keman 華鬘) is a stylized garland, pendant disc, sort of cast in low-relief, open-work bronze or copper reflector hung in front of lamps or used for architectural decoration in Buddhist temples.
It usually features the Kalavinka (Sanskrit: Kalavinka, Japanese: Karyoubinga, 迦陵頻伽). Originally a sparrow-like bird that lived in the snowy mountains of the Himalaya range, reputed to possess a melodious voice. Later sutras state that it lived in the paradise (Gokuraku 極楽) of Amida 阿弥陀 Buddha. In pictorial representations, the karyōbinga has the head of a bodhisattva (bosatsu 菩薩) and the winged body of a bird. Its tail resembles the tail of a phoenix (hō-ō 鳳凰). Typically it holds a musical instrument. In Japanese art, the karyōbinga is found in a variety of forms.
They were handcrafted by Mr Takashi Kageyama of the Kageyama Seiskusyo Co Ltd from Tatsuta town, Moriyama city, Shiga prefecture, Japan.
The sponsorship of each keman was $6,000 with 50 kemans available.
Bibliography:
The Sutra of the Names of the One Hundred Buddhas
Louis Frederic, Buddhism, Flammarion Iconographic Guides, 1995, ISBN 2-08013-558-9, pages 116
William Edward Soothill and Lewis Hodous, A Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms, Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, 2000, ISBN 81-208-0319-1, pages 236, 317 Kalavinka