*travel the world: come to the british museum*

while waiting for s. to arrive, i browsed the british museum shop and bought a dragonfly pendant.

we started with (south-east) asia: india, thailand, cambodia, etc., which meant buddhas buddhas buddhas everywhere. i felt in my own environment and was v. chuffed when s. found the original version of the cast we have at home: a bronze statue, c. 30cm tall, from burma, dated back to 12 AD (shown below). his features are of renaissance proportions, his serene face is handsome and reassuring and his body strong and stable. in two words, v. attractive. i wondered whether he found his nirvana just there...

we admired other deities including the supreme god and lord of dance (shiva nataraja) waving over a demon looking like a small woman. shiva manifests five aspects of eternal energy: creation, preservation, destruction, concealment, favour. he sports an exquisite pose and equanimity at the centre of the whirling cycle of cosmic activity.


below is the five headed figure of ganesha, son of parvati and impersonification of the god's energy.

and finally, the happy fat monk:

we finished our outing with a walk in a rather warm evening and a thai meal al fresco.

photos(c) amicacarmilla