Burmese Votive Tablets by Dr. Richard M. Cooler

The most numerous and, perhaps, the most intimate objects from the Pagan period are the clay votive tablets that were stamped out and signed by many kings and nobles. The creation of these tablets, each displaying at least one image of the Buddha and some including over 100 images, was thought to produce good merit for its maker. The incentive for their creation is not in doubt, like so much concerning the Pagan Period, because many donors wrote and signed their intentions on the back of the tablet. King Anawratha’s tablets state that “This Buddha was made, with his own hands, by Sri Maharaja Aniruddhadeva, with the object of emancipation [i.e. gaining Nirvanna]”. Anawratha’s tablets had his tablets inserted into religious foundations throughout his kingdom.

The face of the tablet often displays a Buddha in bhumisparsa mudra seated within a temple that is similar to the one constructed at Bodhgaya, India, where the Buddha achieved enlightenment. Two lines of Sanskrit in North Indian characters of the 10^th to 11^th centuries is often imprinted below the Buddha images. This is a statement of the Buddhist creed in its most compressed and basic form: “The Buddha hath the causes told, Of all things springing from causes, And also how things cease to be, Tis this the Mighty Monk proclaims”.

Although the use of votive tablets at Pagan continued a tradition that originated in India and some tablets found in the two countries are identical, it is clear that votive plaques were created at Pagan because bronze and clay molds have been discovered there. Also, the Pagan donors signed many of the plaques in script.

Verso writing states

tablet made by King Anawratha’s

wife, Oueen Chipe

Ref: http://www.seasite.niu.edu/burmese/Cooler/Chapter_3/Part4/Images/pagan_period_4.htm

Object - Votive plaque

Materials -Terracotta
Techniques - Impressed
Place of origin - Pagan , Burma ( Myanmar )

Current Location - British Museum

Date - 13thC

Dimensions - Height: 19.5 centimetres

Description
Votive plaque. Buddha beneath a triple arch and a parasol, in the earth-touching gesture. The tree is shown by branches with the Bodhi leaf. The small surrounding Buddhas in pearled niches with indications of a tree above and around them are a series of twenty-eight predecessors of the 'historical' Buddha. Two ‘stūpas’ fill spaces at the top, and a line of Burmese characters runs at the bottom of the impression. Inscribed with Burmese characters. Made of impressed terracotta.

Inscriptions
Inscription Type: inscription
Inscription Script: Burmese
Inscription Position: bottom
Inscription Comment: A line of Burmese characters runs at the bottom of the impression.

Curator's comments
Zwalf 1985

Another example of Burmese votive plaques of Indian type shows the Buddha beneath a triple arch and a parasol, in the earth-touching gesture associated with Bodh Gayā. The tree is shown by branches with the unmistakable Bodhi leaf. The small surrounding Buddhas in pearled niches with indications of a tree above and around them are a series of twenty-eight predecessors of the 'historical' Buddha. Two ‘stūpas’ fill spaces at the top, and a line of Burmese characters runs at the bottom of the impression.