Special thanks to the Museum for their gracious permission to photograph these objects.
Mucalinda Sheltering Buddha
Chaiya style (Wat Wiang), 1240
National Museum, Bangkok
Some of the finest sculpture in Southeast Asia comes from Srivijaya, an early Mahayana Buddhist kingdom which, in its heyday, included much of present day peninsular Thailand, Java, Sumatra, and Malaya. This delicate yet powerful Mucalinda, carved in the medieval period at the old Srivijayan center of Chaiya, harkens back to the earlier Srivijayan style.
