Arhat

Arhat refers to Buddhist saints who are qualified for receiving offerings from people for renouncing worldly desires and achieving enlightenment. This Arhat sculpture is presumed to have been a part of a group of either sixteen or five hundred Arhat sculptures enshrined at a Nahanjeon Hall in a temple. It is depicted wearing a red kasaya robe and sitting with a tiger on its lap. Arhat sculptures produced in the late Joseon period include some shown holding animals like a tiger, elephant, or dragon, but they are not always accompanied by the same animal. In the sixteenth arhats from the seventeenth century onwards, the fourth, ninth, and sixteenth arhats are portrayed with a tiger or other auspicious animal.

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