Bronze Buddhist statue gifted by Gandhi to be auctioned in Bonhams.Byline: ANI London, Sep. 6 (ANI): The grand daughter of Mahatma mahatma (məhăt`mə, –hät`–) [Sanskrit,=great-souled], honorific title used in India among Hindus for a person of superior holiness. Mohandas Gandhi is the best-known figure to whom the title was applied. Gandhi's Irish friend Emma Harker is set to auction a bronze statue of a seated Buddhist deity gifted by Father of the Nation at Bonhams Bonhams is a privately owned British auction house founded in 1793. It is the third largest auctioneer after Sotheby's and Christie's, and conducts around 700 auctions per year. The firm has London salerooms in New Bond Street and Knightsbridge. sale of Asian art. The 13-inch-high statue, being said to be that of the Bodhisattva bodhisattva (bō'dĭsät`wə) [Sanskrit,=enlightenment-being], in early Buddhism the term used to refer to the Buddha before he attained supreme enlightenment; more generally, any being destined for enlightenment or intent on of compassion Avalokitesvara, may fetch 3,000-5,000 pounds. Emma went to India to stay with her daughter whose husband was in the civil services there. Through that influential connection, she came in contact with senior politicians, particularly Sarojini Naidu. A letter from Gandhi to Emma written in September 1934 suggests that she participated in relief work for the poor in flooded areas of Bihar and Orissa Bihar and Orissa (Hindi: बिहार और उड़ीसा) was a former province of British India which included the present-day Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, and Orissa. . Around this time, Gandhi presented Emma with the Buddhist figure. "Emma Harker who died in 1957 knew Gandhi well, corresponding with him over a number of years, and on one occasion introduced her granddaughter, the owner of this sculpture now, to him," said James Hammond, head of Asian Art at Bonhams. Recently, there has been a surge in interest for Gandhi's belongings. In July, three of Gandhi's autographed letters sold for 4,750 pounds while a signed khadi Noun 1. khadi - a coarse homespun cotton cloth made in India khaddar cloth, fabric, textile, material - artifact made by weaving or felting or knitting or crocheting natural or synthetic fibers; "the fabric in the curtains was light and semitransparent"; cloth which was said to have been woven by him fetched 2,125 pounds. (ANI) Copyright 2009 Asian News International The Asian News International (ANI) agency provides multimedia news to China and 50 bureaus in India. It covers virtually all of South Asia since its foundation and presently claims, on its official website, to be the leading South Asia-wide news agency. (ANI) - All Rights Reserved. Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company |
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