National Treasure Hall
Statue of Subodai
National Treasure
Subodai is one of the Ten Great Disciples of Shakyamuni, the historical Buddha. It was made in the Nara period (710–794) by the hollow-core dry-lacquer sculpting technique.
Subodai is depicted as a cheerful young monk, closely matching canonical descriptions of Buddha’s disciple Ananda. Renowned for his memory, Ananda is credited with having memorized Buddha’s teachings, thereby helping with the creation of the early Buddhist texts. Ananda also had the deepest insight into the Buddhist philosophy of perpetual change. Following Buddha’s death, Ananda is said to have attained enlightenment shortly before the First Buddhist Council around 400 BCE.