Sacred Seat. Purple-flowering Grass and the Bayon, Angkor Thom, Cambodia
216 Giant Faces of the Buddha or perhaps of the 12th/13th c. CE King of Angkor Thom, Jayavarman VII, looked down on me benignly as I lounged a bit on a rather scraggly lawn to catch my breath after the morning's incredibilities. The inset is of a three-some of those sculpted faces gracing the Bayon.
Grasses are lowly plants, but Desmostachya bipinnata, Dharba or Kusha, is sacred to Buddhism. Legend has it that in prehistorical times hairs from the shell of the World Turtle washed up on the shore and were transformed into that grass. Woven together the cushion served the Buddha and hence its sacrality.
No, the grass of my resting place in the photo is not Dharba. But the beautiful purple stamens remind of Buddhist Mysticism and the virtues of the Buddha. In this context, the Purple Lotus is particularly significant.
The dew drops demonstrate that I was here early in the morning...; there's a connection to the Grass Story, too, but I've forgotten what exactly.
Sacred Seat. Purple-flowering Grass and the Bayon, Angkor Thom, Cambodia
216 Giant Faces of the Buddha or perhaps of the 12th/13th c. CE King of Angkor Thom, Jayavarman VII, looked down on me benignly as I lounged a bit on a rather scraggly lawn to catch my breath after the morning's incredibilities. The inset is of a three-some of those sculpted faces gracing the Bayon.
Grasses are lowly plants, but Desmostachya bipinnata, Dharba or Kusha, is sacred to Buddhism. Legend has it that in prehistorical times hairs from the shell of the World Turtle washed up on the shore and were transformed into that grass. Woven together the cushion served the Buddha and hence its sacrality.
No, the grass of my resting place in the photo is not Dharba. But the beautiful purple stamens remind of Buddhist Mysticism and the virtues of the Buddha. In this context, the Purple Lotus is particularly significant.
The dew drops demonstrate that I was here early in the morning...; there's a connection to the Grass Story, too, but I've forgotten what exactly.