Traditional Buddha poses of meditation or attaining nirvana are totally out of style now that the world has discovered the one and only Buddha giving a very familiar thumbs-up.
Tourists have been flocking to the antique “Like” Buddha of the Talod cave temple in Songkhla province, which has drawn international attention for his unusual hand gesture.
“The ‘Like’ Buddha has never occurred in history before,” said Prapas Chuvichien, professor of art history at Silpakorn University. He speculated the modern-looking gesture isnt deliberate, as the statue may originally held a type of palm leaf fan commonly used by Buddhist monks during prayer.
“You can see a hole in the middle of the right hand of the Buddha statue, so there must have been something inside before,” he told Khaosod English.
Is it possible that he foresaw the inevitable social media “buzz” it would make in the future?
The statue was estimated to have been built hundreds of years ago during the Ayutthaya era. It was declared an antique by Thailand’s Fine Art Department.
Photo: Morning News
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