DIVERSE FACES OF BUDDHA: DIVERSE FACES OF BUDDHA

FACES OF BUDDHA (a'Wbsf cg'xf/x¿)

Faces of Buddha: (a'Wbsf cg'xf/x¿ )

Through the theme "Faces of Buddha”, artist Sandhya Regmi has portrayed several dimensions of Buddha, including link of Buddha with Nepal, and conveyed message of Buddha to larger society in the world.

Buddha has a variety of faces in different parts of the world. During her visits overseas (India, Vietnam, Singapore, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, etc.), Sandhya noted with astonishment the crafting of the same Buddha in diverse faces. For example, Cambodian Buddha is depicted with relatively flat nose- reflecting the common faces of his followers there, and the Chinese Buddha- the God of happiness, good-luck and fortune worshipped in Vietnam (and in other parts of the world by Chinese Buddhists) – is reflected with a round face and a big belly.

No craftsmen who carved Buddha knew exactly how he precisely looked like. They had never seen actual face of Buddha. His face was expanded relying on the hearsay that he was a very good looking prince. Besides relying on oral description of his outlook, craftsmen understandably filled any gap applying their own skill, experience, and imagination. Thus, Buddha’s image is a resultant of the accuracy with which his followers understood Buddha’s real look, the accuracy with which they explained it to the craftsmen, and the accuracy with which the craftsmen portrayed the image. In this process, Buddha’s face was localized distinctly, in different part of the world.

In this context, one noticeable feature in many faces of Buddha is his crown. Craftsmen decorated Buddha’s image with crown on the head, despite the fact that long before attaining the enlightenment ('Gyana'), Siddhartha Gautama had already abandoned the crown, along with his royal life of pomp and splendor. So, one probable reason for so crowning could be to reflect the fact that he was once a very good-looking crown prince. Another reason for the decoration could be symbolization of his attainment of enlightenment and Nirvana.

In most of her portraits of Buddha, Sandhya has painted Buddha with dazzling crown on his head, in mighty silence, in serene-peaceful-moonlit heavenly-appearance, in radiant meditation, in a form of magical aura - radiant star, in a form of sparkling wisdom & illumination- approaching Nirvana, in perennial meditation position, in deep contemplation, in a pose of supreme sacrifice, in a form of Heavenly resolution- closing his eyes, and in some paintings in the form of half-opened eyes.

Some of her paintings depict Buddha in the form of an innocent child - Baby Buddha, Little Buddha– all filled with innocent charm, sacred smile and divine whisper. Her realization of existence of ‘Everest- tenderness’ in Buddha motivated her to paint female face of Buddha– to convey the message of his virtues as delicate, affectionate and motherly woman.

In one portrait, Buddha has been depicted in red and romantic background, as a ‘Prince In Love’- to reflect the fact that he was once a crown Prince, very deep in love with Mayadevi- his mother, Yashodhara- his wife and Rahula- his child.

Sandhya sees Siddhartha Gautama Buddha - the enlightened teacher all over the world- as a worshipped Saint, as a peace Messiah, and as a glorious honour and pride of Nepal, spreading the message of oneness in peace, harmony and happiness across the whole world.

Faces of Cambodian Buddha have secured prominent place in Sandhya’s portraits. In the Angkor Wat and the Angkor Thom Bayon Temple of Siem Reap– the temple at the top of the high classical style of Khmer Art & Architecture – is seen the 12^th century stone carved Cambodian God, which is believed to have been first carved as Hindu God Vishnu, and later transformed to Buddha by his followers. The faces of Buddha have weathered all over the centuries, and in some cases, tree roots have passed through them. Sandhya has painted them as they are, and entitled them as ‘Meditation in the Forest’ and ‘In Harmony with Nature’.

In her portrait-march, Sandhya has even gone to the extent of fusing Hinduism and Shivaism with Buddhism, and dared to paint Lord Buddha’s face in union with the Hindu Gods such as the ‘Four-Faced’ Bramha, the ‘Nilakantha’ Shiva and the ‘Svayam Bhagavan’ Krishna, delivering the message that certain elements of Buddhism exists in Hinduism.

To express unit within diversity in faces of Buddha, she has carved sun, moon, ‘Trisul’ of Shiva, ‘Sudarshan Chakra’ of Krishna, the sacred matras, and prayers of ‘Ohm’, ‘Ohm Mani Padme Hum’ etc. in Sanskit, Nepali, Cambodian, and Tibetan script.

Despite herself being Hindu throughout her life, Sandhya has very high regard for Buddha and Buddhism. She regards Buddhism the highest pedestal of all other existing religions and philosophies in the world because of the fact that Buddha always humbled himself even after his 'Enlightenment', and conveyed his disciples and followers that he was no God, no teacher, no preacher, and asked them never to worship him as the Almighty, rather follow the path of ‘Dharma’ and ‘Shangha’.

Sandhya loves this philosophy to the utmost. With the exception of Buddhism, other religions such as Hinduism, Christianity, Islamism, believe in a Creator the Almighty Lord positioned and crowned high in Heaven and all the human beings down below on Earth creating a ‘Laxman Rekha’ a concrete wall and an unbreakable barrier between ‘Man’ and ‘God’, the concept of ‘Heaven’(Swarga) and ‘Hell’ (Narak). In Buddhism, there is no such term as ‘Heaven’ and ‘Hell’, or ‘Man’ and ‘God’; everyone is equal. In sharp contrast to other religions, even an ordinary man born, grown up, and lived as a human being can in his course of life attain ‘Enlightenment’ and become a Buddha himself.

No wonder Sandhya’s love, passion, respect, and dedication to Buddha and Buddhism have genuinely inspired her to paint and spread the Buddha’s message through her paintings.