The Nirvana Buddha / Reclining Buddha

The reclining Buddha statue depicts the Historical Buddha in his final moments before entering Nirvana. According to the story, the Buddha became ill after unknowingly eating spoiled pork given to him by an alms giver. As the Buddha had already attained enlightenment in his lifetime, he was able to break free from the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth (known as samsara) and enter Nirvana. The reclining Buddha is often shown lying on the right side atop a resting table. One of the most famous examples of this statue is housed at Wat Pho in Bangkok, Thailand, and there are many other temples across Southeast Asia that also have statues in this posture.