Maitreya and Zanabazar in Mongolia

Abstract

An article is made in a series about the artistic activity by a brilliant sculptor and extraordinary thinker G. Zanabazar (1635–1723), whose criation predetermined the development of Buddhism and the entire course of events in Mongolia. The cult practice of Maitreya as one of the heroes of the bodhisattvas and as the Buddha of the Future among the Mongolian peoples arose under the decisive necessity of the first rituals performed under the influence of Undur-Gegen in the Erdene-Zuu monastery in 1657. Ritual meetings of the Buddha or Maitreya's cycle have become one of the most beloved, very colorful and festive events in the large-scale life of the most important Buddhist monasteries. The divine image of a beautiful, young yogi with the image of a stupa in his hair, an antelope skin on his left shoulder, a jug of sacred water and a gesture of preaching the teaching and at the same time granting protection, a noble Zanabazar, distinguished by elegances and nobility, and very close in style and spirit to the best works by Nepalese masters of the XI–XIV centuries. The sculpture of the standing bodhisattva Maitreya, 72 cm high, made by Undur-Gegen Zanabazar, is one of the main shrines of the capital's biggest Gandantegchenling Monastery. The rarest painting, the thangka of Maitreya Zanabazar, is found in the G. Zanabazar Fine Arts Museum in Ulaanbaatar. The second type of image of Maitreya is the crowned Buddha, sitting in bhadraasana on a high seat, also widespread in Tibeto-Mongolian Buddhism, and one of them is located in the Choijin Lama Museum-Temple in Ulaanbaatar, it belongs to the Zanabazar’s school. In this article, for the first time, a detailed description of the works by Zanabazar associated with to the cult of Maitreya is made.