Gold Painted Statue of Skanda Bodhisattva 韋馱菩萨
Material: Wood
Origin: China
Height: 77 cm
Code: MS-003
Skanda Bodhisattva, commonly known as "Wei Tuo" (韋馱) in Mahayana Tradition, is revered as a guardian of Buddha dharma, particularly guarding the main entrance of Chinese buddhist monasteries. Legend has it that Skanda is a son of the heavenly kings and Chief of General among the 32 mighty heavenly guards.
Skanda is portrayed as a handsome general who adorns a majestic armour attire, an elaborate headgear with a peacock and feathers and carries a vajra staff. Even his different postures of carrying the staff tell of different advisory for worshippers to the monastery.
Skanda's role as a dharma protector originated from a time not long after Buddha Sakyamuni's mahaparinirvana. As his relics were distributed to the eight kings, one of his tooth relics was stolen by a demon. Skanda gave chase to the demon and eventually recovered the lost relic. The heavenly kings praised his bravery and conferred him as a dharma protector. Skanda's name and his role as a dharma protector can also be found in some of the sutras, such as The Sovereign King of Sutra, the SublimeGolden Light (Suvarnaprabhasa Sutra) where he was mentioned as one of the heavenly beings who vowed to protect the buddha dharma.
Although Skanda is a deva, he is still revered as a bodhisattva. This is probably because it is predicted that he will be the final and 1000th Buddha in this aeon. Some sutras described that Skanda and Sakyamuni, in one of their previous lives, were born as sons of Chakravartin. Chakravatin had 1000 sons all of whom are highly talented and all will attain Buddhahood in this aeon. Lord Buddha Sakyamuni was the fourth to attain Buddhahood whilst Skanda, being the youngest son, will be the last of the 1000 buddhas.