ABSTRACT
This chapter shifts the focus to various sculptural introductions in the Javanese Buddhist landscape. It underscores how wider cultural processes can be captured by following the dynamics leading up to novel statuary practices in different sacred and lay spaces. The chapter pauses especially on the diffusion of Parinibbana Buddha statues in recent decades. A previously unknown sculptural convention in Java, the “reclining Buddha” statue, has appeared in various temples on the island as a cherished corollary to old and new temple edifices. While in some contexts the Parinibbana Buddha indexes ongoing Theravadin inclinations by given temples, elsewhere the statue merges into thick visual and discursive complexes that encompass the powerful Majapahit imaginary and its simultaneous revival. The chapter follows then the fortunes of a stone Buddha in a neighbourhood near Yogyakarta, emphasising the multivocal interpretations to which religious objects are subject.
