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Subject:Re: Bhudda & Monks Snuff Bottle
Posted By: Phillip Adams Thu, Jan 19, 2006
Stan, tne "monks" depicted on your snuff bottle are the Buddhist Luohans. The number of Luohans varied sometimes being 10, 16, 18, or even 500.
However the most common group is 18.
The Luohans were enlightenned Indian deciples of the Buddha and are known in sandscrit as Ahrats. They are in fact Buddhist saints whose role is to defend Buddhism and instruct mankind. You may recall I posted this moulded bottle vase some months ago depicting the same subject. The Luohan seen in your first image holding aloft the precious ring with magic powers and riding on a tiger is Pindola.
Pindola was a monk who lived in a mountain monastery. The monks used to hear a tiger howling every night and believed it to be hungry.
Pindola put a bowl of vegetarian food out for the tiger every night and eventually it was tamed. Hence he became known as the "Tiger Taming Luohan"
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