Statues like these can be found all over Nepal, for example at the entrance of temples, shrines or houses, at bridges, important crossroads, the central square or biggest tree of a village and so on. They are more commonly known as 'namaskara mudra' statues, referring to the positioning of the hands.
Statues like these are both greeting-statues and protective statues. With the traditional hand-mudra they greet the visitors and passers-by, but also they protect the area or building where they are standing. Often a spirit of a local ancestor dwells in them.
Statues like the one here (sometimes with clearly distinct gender-features), can often be found in pairs of two; one male, one female. An ancestral couple.
The age from this beautiful statue is hard to determine exactly, but looking at its beautiful dark patina and the obvious marks left by ageing and damaging, it can certainly be said that it is of very respectable age.
This statue is approximately 40 centimeters high. At some point in its life it has been attached to an iron base (which measures approximately 15x 11 centimeters)
Please be aware that a statue such as this is not just a beautiful decorative piece to place in a display cabinet. It was made to be a spirit home, and still is so. Treat it with the utmost care, friendship and respect. And feel free to ask our advice if you need any on how to best take care of such as statue.
