Publication details
Vanišova a Palátova fotografie Baržiho velkého Maitréji : Vizuální rekonstrukce chrámu Džokhang ve Lhase
| Title in English | Vaniš's and Palát's photographs of Barzhi's great Maitreya : Visual reconstruction of the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa |
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| Year of publication | 2022 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
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| Citation | |
| Description | This paper discusses the gigantic statue of the future Buddha Maitreya, called Barzhi's Champa, which was located in the main hall of the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa. This roughly eight-metre-high gilded copper statue was destroyed by Maoist Red Guards in 1966 and today a replica, or rather an imitation of the original statue, stands in its place. Although it was the largest statue in Jokhang, not many photographs are known of it before its demise; about a dozen have been published so far, with about a third by Czech or Czechoslovak authors. The first Czech photographer to photograph and publish the statue was Josef Vaniš in December 1954, and the last was Augustin Palát in September 1956, and it was their photographs that played a cardinal role in establishing that the statue was changing over time - moving its hands. The paper will try to unravel this mystery of the change of hand gesture (mudra in Sanskrit) in the mid-1950s. |
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