Mudras in Buddhist sculpture
Mudras are hand gestures to which Buddhist traditions assign conventional meanings. They help identify episodes from the Buddha’s life, acts of teaching and devotional functions.
In abhaya mudra, the hand is raised with the palm facing the viewer, expressing reassurance and freedom from fear. In dhyana mudra, the hands rest in the lap in the gesture of meditation. In bhumisparsha mudra, the right hand reaches towards the ground, recalling the earth’s witness to the Buddha’s awakening. Dharmachakra mudra is associated with turning the wheel of the Dharma, or teaching.
These conventions have variations. A gesture must be interpreted together with posture, attributes and any accompanying figures. In fragmentary works, missing fingers or a lost hand may prevent a secure identification. Describing the surviving features and distinguishing modern restorations are essential steps towards a reliable interpretation.
The second-century Gandharan hand in schist, documented in the Dalton Somaré archive, shows how palm and fingers make abhaya mudra legible even in an isolated fragment. Comparison with the ninth-century standing Buddha from Kashmir places the gesture within a figure: the right hand is raised while the left holds the robe. The same convention is thus integrated into different bodily constructions and materials.
In the six-armed Pala Padmapani, one hand forms varada mudra while others hold attributes. Reading a figure with multiple limbs requires attention to their complete arrangement: the granting gesture, lotus and ritual objects complement each other within a unified programme. Studying mudras therefore involves both the gesture’s conventional meaning and its compositional role, allowing images to be compared through more than a catalogue of hand positions.
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