Amitābha (阿弥陀仏 Amida butsu; 阿弥陀如来 Amida nyorai), unknown maker from Japan

In Pure Land Buddhism, the Amida Buddha is believed to lead souls of the deceased to the Western Paradise. As a belief system, Pure Land Buddhism first appeared in Central Asia and became widespread in China, Korea, and eventually Japan, where this sculpture was made. Pure Land teaches mindfulness through the recitation of the Amida Buddha’s name in order to attain reincarnation in Western Paradise. Through its journey from India, many of the tenets of Buddhism were transformed, but surprisingly, a wide array of visual elements remained intact. For example, the hand gesture of the Buddha (known as a mudra), the coiled hair, and the elongated earlobes are all associated with historical representations of the Buddha seen first in India, nearly a thousand years earlier.