Keith Munnings and Yann Lovelock: West Midlands Buddist Council Inspirational art: The Sultanganj Buddha statue in Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery
 | | The Sultanganj Buddha |
The Sultanganj Buddha is the largest metal figure of its kind in the world, and has been housed in Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery since 1867. Keith Munnings talks about his relationship with the statue. "A special project we do is a celebration in Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery on Buddha Day or Wesak when we traditionally celebrate the birth, death and enlightenment of Buddha all on the same day. Chanting on Buddha Day "We were invited to celebrate this in the presence of the Sultanganj Buddha statue which we're very honoured to have in Birmingham and so over the last three years we're arranged a quite extensive chanting session involving various different forms of Buddhist chanting as a way to celebrate this event which is of great significance to the Buddhist community.
"The museum and art gallery have been a great host for this event and have enabled something quite unique to occur where a wide range of Buddhist groups with quite different and diverse approaches to Buddhism have been able to celebrate together and bring a greater presence of Buddhism as a whole into the city of Birmingham. Meditate "This Buddha statue historically a special statue and it has an unusual standing posture. Its always helpful for Buddhist groups to meditate and chant with a Buddha statue present because it symbolises what we're trying to achieve in meditation. This particular one being where it is it has great age and great significance to Buddhists for over 1500 or more years which makes it that bit more special still.
 | | The Sultanganj Buddha |
If I am in Birmingham I pop into the coffee bar next to the Buddha rather than anywhere else. The Buddha gallery has a quality of calm and peacefulness which are important to Buddhists and that’s nice to find in the centre of a big city Blessings of Buddha Yann Lovelock, also of the West Midlands Buddhist Council, talks of his devotion to the Sultanganj Buddha. "I feel a great personal devotion to this and I've made it my practice to bow to this particular Buddha ever since I've been aware of it which goes back two or three decades now.
 | | The discovery of the Buddha in 1862 |
"It was discovered when they were excavating a railway line in the south of India and the chief engineer was a brass founder from Birmingham. He realised it was like nothing he could ever make in Birmingham. "He was really excited and offered it to the city and it is number two in the accession list of the museum and art gallery, so we'd like to say that it's thanks to the blessings of the Buddha that we've even got a museum here. They built it around the Buddha statue." Everything Birmingham could be The Buddha statue is inspiring to Yann, not only because it connects him to Buddhism, but also to the city of Birmingham:
 | | The Sultanganj Buddha |
"It is an inspirational piece of art and that particular Buddha because of its age and the fact that it's in Birmingham and I feel very strongly about Birmingham as well, this stands for everything Birmingham could be, inspiring, peaceful, a city that has something to offer the whole of the world to make it a better place." Bringing objects to life "The Sultanganj Buddha is one of the most important objects we have in the museum" says Adam Jaffer, assistant curator at BM&G. "We feel very grateful for the Buddhist community coming into the museum on Buddha day as we feel it is a way of giving the objects life and showing that they still have a meaning in the world.
 | | Adam, Keith and Yann in the Buddha Gallery |
"It shows that an object can have lots of relations to lots of different groups of people. Chanting to the Buddha can give visitors who don’t know much about Buddhism a chance to discover more and how it relates to physical objects. It shows objects can be made real and alive to people who have relationships with them." The Sultanganj Buddha is on display in Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. Admission is free. | 
