Slide portraying the chronological progression of Burmese history. From the Prince Siddarthta attaining enlightenment as the Buddha, Theravada Buddhism arriving Bagan via King Anawrahta, thus the Bagan style of the crowned Buddha. To the King Alaungpaya and his start-up Konbaung Empire, the displacement of the Mahamuni image and the making of the lavish 19th century crowned Buddha. To the colonial and on towards the modern “democracy with Burmese characteristics” era.
Two Burmese Crowned Buddhas at the Art Institute of Chicago: Genealogies of Kingship and Buddhahood in the Making of Burmese Buddhist Nationalism
Abstract:
This thesis revolves around the study of two Burmese crowned Buddhas at the Art Institute of Chicago. Dressed as kings, the two Buddhas largely contradict the generic simplistic and ascetic depiction of the Buddha which all other Buddha sculptures in the gallery maintain. The Buddhas are from the Bagan era(the First Burmese Empire, 12th/13th century) and the Konbaung era (the Last Burmese Empire, late 19th century) respectively. The fact that these two crowned Buddhas are from two opposite ends of Burmese Buddhist history, in addition to the fact that crowned Buddhas are still produced and worshipped in Burma today, prompts the further exploration of the continued relation between the Buddha and the Burmese king. Suspended on pedestals in sanitized glass vitrines in a foreign art institution, the two Buddhas, like all other objects displayed in the gallery, seem as if they were relics of the past whose values and representations are no longer relevant to the modern era. The following thesis is to state that this is not so. Burma today is still a largely Buddhist country. The representation of the crowned Buddha has survived a span of nine centuries, carrying with it the notions of Kingship and Buddhahood, the interwoven nature of Burmese religion and socio-politics, the assimilation of Burmese national identity and the systematic construction of Buddhist nationalism.
Keywords: Burma, Myanmar, Crowned Buddha, Burmese King, Buddhism, State, Religion, Art Institute of Chicago.
For full-length dissertation and citations, please contact me through email: thtwe@artic.edu, thet2nh@gmail.com