Consecration of the statue

Tibetan Buddhists believe that a Buddha statue is only an empty shell until after it is filled and consecrated by a qualified guru. The filling and consecration ceremony gives life to the Buddha and once consecrated it will give you blessings when you see it, the great blessings of the enlightened body, enlightened speech and the enlightened mind.

·        The statue body is enlightened and is no longer an empty shell;

·        the mantras put inside the statue provide enlightened speech;

·        the enlightened speech will transform the mind of the practitioner with positive energy.

Typically, the required filling materials consist of a life stick, (deity specific) rolled mantras, fragrant wood, incense powders, and the five metals (gold, silver, brass, iron and copper) each placed correctly within the statue.

We can provide the appropriate filling materials for your chosen deity for your own lama to perform the ceremony or we can have our own lama consecrate it for you in which case we will make an offering to him of £50.

How are the statues made?

Statues have been made in Nepal by the lost wax method since the 10th century and despite competition from low cost manufacturing processes, the metal working traditions have been passed on within families and production continues to this day, primarily in the ancient city of Patan in the south east of Kathmandu valley.

A wax replica of the Buddhist deity is created and by virtue of being wax, intricate details can be included which are not possible in other processes such as casting. The next step is to apply clay around the delicate wax replica, and once hardened, the wax is melted and removed. The next stage is to pour molten copper into the clay mould, and once cooled, the clay can be removed. The copper statue then passes through many expert and specialised hands within the family where details are carved onto the body of the statue, the statue is gold plated, gold powder applied to the face and the statue painted. Completion of the statue takes the work of 16 skilled craftsmen and several weeks.

The gold plating process is worth further description because it is a process unique to these craftsmen – mercury gold plating. Mercury is a liquid at room temperature and surprisingly perhaps, pure gold will dissolve in mercury to create a liquid gold-mercury amalgam.  This amalgam is brushed onto the copper statue giving a silver coloured finish and then a flame is applied to the statue. The boiling point of mercury is lower than the melting point of gold so what happens is that the mercury evaporates leaving the gold gleaming on the statue. It’s a beautiful transformation to observe.

By the nature of this process every statue is different in shape and weight and since the carving and painting is all done by hand, every statue is different in detail, consequently the statue you receive will vary from the image and dimensions/weight shown. Three things effect the price of a gold-plated statue; (1) the size of the statue; (2) some statues are fully gold plated and some only partly so; (b) statues vary in how much detail has been carved into the copper.