Soon after Shakyamuni Buddha obtained enlightenment the Four Great Guardian Kings of the four directions each presented him with an alms-bowl, the most beautiful of which was made with precious gems, and the simplest form of common stone or clay.  Shakyamuni was said to have chosen the plainest bowl that was sufficient for the needs of a humble mendicant.  The traditional alms-bowl of a Buddhist monk or bhikshu is shaped like the  inverted ushnisha of the Buddha, a symbol of the highest attainment of Buddhahood, as the wisdom that directly realizes emptiness.  The alms-bowl is generally held in the left 'wisdom' hand of Buddhas and their disciples, the sangha.  This Buddha stands on a single lotus base and has very subtle red and gold undertones.

The begging bowl, or alms bowl, is one of the simplest but most important objects in the daily lives of Buddhist monks.  It is primarily a practical object, used as a bowl in which to collect alms (either money or food) from lay supporters.  But it also has symbolic significance associated with the historical Buddha.  According to one legend, when he began meditating beneath the Bodhi tree, a young woman offered him a golden bowl filled with rice, thinking he was the divinity of the tree.  He divided the rice into 49 portions, one for each day until he would be enlightened and threw the precious bowl into the river.  This and other legends, combined with its humble monastic uses, have made the simple begging bowl a symbol of the Buddha's teachings on nonattachment.

This sculpture is entirely hand-crafted and painted in rural villages in Cambodia.  Every piece is truly unique!