Woodcut Print – lotus

Today is Vesak day 2023. A day of celebration in the Buddhist Religion. This is a 5 colour woodcut print I made. The Lotus in Buddhism has the symbolic representation of self cultivation. The cultivation of the mind with learning the Dhamma, practising meditation. The Four Noble truth and the Eightfold noble path.

This woodcut print of the Lotus image has references from one of the gateways(Toranas) at the Buddhist monument site in India, The Sanchi Stupa in Madhya Pradesh. The Sanchi Stupa was built by Emperor Ashoka in 3rd Century BC. The gateways(Toranas), smaller stupas, railings and etc were added on by subsequent empires.

I choose the image primarily due to the medium of which I was going to use. Which is woodcut. The woodcut is also a form of relief, using extraction(carving) method to reveal the image by removing bits and pieces of materials from the solid piece of wood.

The colour scheme is pink and red complemented with a green background. Its a colour that is of the lotus often found in Singapore used as offerings in temples.

According to John Marshall, the surface treatments of the bas reliefs at Sanchi were given a thin red coating, known as geruka : (nt.) red chalk used for colouring. Which is by mixing red ochre(hematite) with limewash.

The reference image can be found at the east gateway of Stupa No 1. Below is a drawing of the actual bas relief. The original bas relief image I have reference are lotus flowers in buds and flowering stages. At the bottom, is a makara, from its mouth, came the stem of lotus flowers that extends upwards.

Sculptures in Sanchi are a transition from wood sculptures to stone sculptures. The relief sculptures also known as bas reliefs decorated the gateways and railings around the architecture of the stupa. There are individual gateways at four cardinal points. Every gateways are filled with bas relief sculptures depicting the Buddha in aniconic style, jataka stories and events of historical significance. The stupa usually housed the relics. Buddha’s disciples relics were found at Sanchi Stupas.¹

Below is a photo of Sanchi site.

Further reading on Sanchi site and Buddhist sculptures

• Buddhist Monuments at Sanchi
• A short study on India and Sri Lanka early sculptures in Buddhism, 2017

Footnotes:

1. Chapter 12, Funeral relics and their inscriptions, 108, Sanchi and its remains by Maisey, F.C.