Casting A Buddha Statue

[zzap]

When a prominent monk passes on, as happened recently in our community, sometimes a Buddha statue is cast with an accompanying chanting ritual, to transfer some of the essence of his teaching and wisdom to the statue, so future generations may profit from it. (If I understood it correctly)

There is a flexible mould of a statue, usually reinforced silicon or vinyl, from which a hollow wax model is created. This is then embedded into a heat-resistant plaster-based material and the wax burned out.

The casting of the bronze into the resulting cavity mould is done in public with monks placed in 4 corners of a square chanting and reciting.

[sabaijai]

Nice photos.

[phibunmike]

When a prominent monk passes on, as happened recently in our community, sometimes a Buddha statue is cast with an accompanying chanting ritual, to transfer some of the essence of his teaching and wisdom to the statue, so future generations may profit from it. (If I understood it correctly)

There is a flexible mould of a statue, usually reinforced silicon or vinyl, from which a hollow wax model is created. This is then embedded into a heat-resistant plaster-based material and the wax burned out.

The casting of the bronze into the resulting cavity mould is done in public with monks placed in 4 corners of a square chanting and reciting.

Very interesting - thanks for sharing, it would be great to have the opportunity to see that.

By the way, I believe the process is called "cire perdue" (lost wax) casting, and is a common technique for bronze sculpture.

edit>> typo

Edited March 2, 2006 by phibunmike

[ColPyat]

When a prominent monk passes on, as happened recently in our community, sometimes a Buddha statue is cast with an accompanying chanting ritual, to transfer some of the essence of his teaching and wisdom to the statue, so future generations may profit from it. (If I understood it correctly)

Also when a prominent monks die his bones are picked out of the ashes after the funeral and made into amulets, the ashes will be used as ingredients for casting a special edition of amulets , pieces of his robes will also be given away as amulets.