Site Name: Sarnath
Date: 700-899 CE
Subject: Bodhisattva probably Manjushri. The image was found southeast of the Main Shrine. The figure’s identification as the bodhisattva Manjushri is suggested by the presence in the headdress of a small earth-touching (bhumisparsha mudra) figure of Akshobhya, the Jina Buddha associated with Manjushri. The broken lotus held in the left hand was Manjushri’s blue lotus (nilotpala) and that the right hand was held in varada mudra. A brief inscription on the back of the figure records the so-called Buddhist creed, with a few additional letters whose meaning is unclear.
