Mahaparinibbana Photo

Photographer’s Note

Because of the rainy weekend I had some time to continue my scanwork from APS negatives. I would like to show you the Moribund Buddha (Mahaparinibbana) at Gal Vihāra near Polonnaruwa, in the north-eastern part of Sri Lanka.

partly from http://www.buddhanet.net/sacred-island/gal-vihara.html
46 ft. long and depicts the Buddha in the lion posture (sihasana) just as he attained final Nirvana. He rests his head on an elaborately decorated cylindercal pillow. Walking to the far end of this image the pilgrim will notice that the soles of the Buddha's feet are covered with auspicious marks. As is charastic of images of the polo period the Buddha has a round face with a high forehead. Despite its somewhat stylized form it has a peaceful that cannot fail to mov affect the all who see it.

very interesting is the Mahaparinibbana-Sutta on
http://www.vipassana.com/canon/digha/dn16.php

trekks, drt100, riclopes, syd1946, TopGeo, rigoletto, adores, paura, Clementi, Gerrit, carper, stego, leo61, kevinos, bakes888, cfreire has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

drt100 (816) 2008-06-04 1:39

It is a unique head shape for the reclinning type. Those in Thai and near by countries seem to favor a leaner look. I like the texture of the stone. Perhaps the feet still have words on them. The two together make for an interesting but odd combination of meanings. Prof. Thomas

Gustaw (21670) 2008-06-04 1:59

Hi, my friend!
Sri Lanka! Wow! I never been in Sri Lanka. It must be very interesting country. I see big art. Small person and big art. Well done.
Marek

riclopes (32823) 2008-06-04 2:03

Nice recover from your old negatives, showing me another lying buddha I didn't know about. Despite the dull weather conditions I like the result (I wonder if it would work well in b&w). The place seems interesting and impressive - good inclusion of the person (in a not too much intrusive way) for the scale.
ric

syd1946 (17807) 2008-06-04 2:04

Hello Achim,
For sure an impressive artwork and excellent composed to compare how small is the man in front of the sratue!

Have a nice day,
Thomas

UnTrained (0) 2008-06-04 2:57

Hallo Achim,
wir hatten bis auf einen Gewitterschauer tolles Wetter. Schwieriges Licht aus der Richtung, allerdings wird sich die Statue nicht für Dich anders legen :-)
Gute Texturen und passend skaliert mit dem einsamen Menschen da vor. Etwas mehr Schärfe hättest Du vielleicht spendieren können.
Lieben Gruss, Ulf

TopGeo (21357) 2008-06-04 5:46

Hi Achim!Good picture, note and the presentation, even if meteorological no good. The prospect and the size visible because the lady in the first level! I greet
Georgios

rigoletto (25934) 2008-06-04 10:04

What a stunning view!
Carved from the rock, this colossal statue, with a very interesting lying positon, stands as huge as a giant next to the tiny visitor. You made a good effort to climb up and keep all the work in the whole cadrage. Very good TE share Achim...
Cheers,
Deniz

mikeo (12113) 2008-06-04 13:33

Hello Achim,

Another exotic place - Sri Lanka...and so interesting capture. These big 'sculptures' are absolutely amazing. You cought it perfectly as the lady there give us idea about sizes.

TFS,
Greetings
Mikeo

adores (15251) 2008-06-04 15:48

Hi Achim!
Good idea to spend the wekkend scanning your photos:) This budha is really worth it. The composition is very good with that tourist standing there for a photo.Seems an amazing place, full of history and you have done a good work with the scanner.

paura (37722) 2008-06-04 18:05

Achim,
Formas e cores muito bem ajustadas para mostrar as incríveis esculturas. Obrigado por compartilhar.

Um abraço

Paulo

Clementi (42815) 2008-06-05 1:06

Ciao Achim,
a gigantic work of art, very well taken again. the person's inclusion have the greatness of the work understood
nice work
Giorgio

Gerrit (35417) 2008-06-05 6:48

Hi Achim.
Wow, what an impressive giant Buddha. Very smart to includ this woman up front. Good work.
Regards, Gerrit

carper (63968) 2008-06-05 9:24

I would go for this one Achim,
it's a fantastic shot, it let us seen how big the buddha is in the shot, fine pov good composition, and thanks for sharing. Have a nice evening.
gr. jaap

stego (22318) 2008-06-06 8:32

Hallo Achim,
I also like much to show my old film photos once in a while, even if their technical quality suffered much with the time and scan. I recognise those pale colours and the completely white sky, but even so, I like to look at it. The compo uses the the huge statues very wisely and so it is very effective showing the place. The presence of the woman, which looks like a typical Asian tourist (Japanese?) gives a useful sense of scale.
TFS, Regards, José.

Stepan (27167) 2008-06-06 11:06

Must be a cool place. Looks great that small laying Buddha and the pov from above is ok too. It was a good idea to have the visitor in the frame, to produce some scale.
Stéphane

leo61 (42740) 2008-06-06 11:08

Hallo Achim!
Ich war 1984 dort ,meine erste Asienreise und war total beeindruckt von diesen Statuen.
Gute Kompo mit der Frau,die einen Größenvergleich zulässt.
Gruß,Leo

kevinos (6871) 2008-06-07 21:15

A very interesting Buddha image, Achim and captured with good framing and sharpness. regards kevin

bakes888 (18055) 2008-06-09 0:49

Hi Achim. Very impressive statue. We can only see the scale when we see the lady. Well captured and thanks for sharing.
Cheers, Paul.

pboehringer (770) 2008-06-09 10:42

Achim,
I'm not quite sure if that fits with my imagination of how Nirvana might look like, but it certainly is a very good documentation of this place. Obviously the single person there is the key to give the real impression and awe of the statue.
Peter

trekks (14260) 2008-06-10 2:20

hi Achim

Amazing how this religion also spreads to Sri Lanka. I find your shot is most effective by inclusion of the woman without which it is rather difficult to compare the scale of dimension. Buddha lying down and the sculpture on the wall is very well composed.

tfs, bill
later

cfreire (11635) 2009-02-15 6:58

Hi Achim
Congratulations for this picture, at this moment, is in TE main page and the picture is very interesting captured with a good pov and framing. Good job. Best regards, Consuelo