The Prajnaparamita Statue

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Prajnaparamita is the female personification of perfect wisdom. The Prajnaparamita Sutras (The Teaching of Perfect Wisdom) are the essence of Mahayana Buddhism.The Prajnaparamita sutras contains 40 written texts. It was found near Singhasari temple, in East Java, by Dutch colonial official D. Monnereau. It is believed to be a portrayal of Queen Dedes, first queen of Singhasari, was the wife of Ken Arok, the first queen of Singhasari , Java , Indonesia.

The statue was brought all the way to the Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde in Leiden. In early 1987, then it was returned to Indonesia and put in the Museum Nasional in Jakarta but a duplicate was made in Holland before sent back.

The statue is sitting in a lotus position, which represents pureness. Her hands are raised in a gesture symbolizing the turning of the Wheel of the Law, a symbol that has represented dharma, the Buddha's teaching of the path to enlightenment, since the early period of Indian Buddhism.

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