I’ve been trying for about a year now ( with no luck) to get my hands on a Thai style crystal Buddha statue.
I have a few wholesalers keeping an eye out for me and one was just sending me pics asking ‘ is this what you mean?’ … so I sent her a couple of pics of ones I bought in Thailand to clarify and just realised:
With the first one, that I don’t actually know what to call the thing surrounding / above the statues head or what it represents. I just presumed it was kinda the front facade of a temple. Can someone fill me in please? Is that what it is? Does it have a particular name?
With the second, I took the pic then thought, ‘hang on a sec, what is that on its head?’
I’d been asking wholesalers for one with a pointy finial on its head instead of the top knot/ man bun look, but just realised, that kinda looks like a flame … and realised another on my back deck looks like a flame on top too.
That’s got me curious now tho coz one time in one of my weird whatever they are states, I was hanging out in a black void doing nothing, later static fireworks appeared which I noted but ignored, …. Then later I saw something gold and shiny moving across this static image. Long story made short, it was a golden gourd (shaped like a butternut pumpkin) with a flame coming out the top of it. Ok. Weird. More to that story, and over two days too, but it’s the reason I ended up in Thailand.
Maybe it’s irrelevant, maybe it’s not a flame on this statues head, … maybe it’s just some head dress thing? What is it actually supposed to be tho? What is it called?
… and I might as well ask after all of that if gourds have anything to do with Buddhist mythology too? I did read some folk tale type story a year ago about I think it was a Chinese monk (?) tricking a bad spirit and trapping it in a gourd ( or something like that) … but thought there might be more ref’s I don’t know about.
These dove-grey bones
Yānimāni apatthāni,
are tossed away like
alābūneva sārade;
dried gourds in the autumn—
Kāpotakāni aṭṭhīni,
what joy is there in such a sight?
tāni disvāna kā rati.
Yes: Chinese wanderers are often depicted as carrying a bottle gourd as a flask.
I’m thinking taking meth is the bigger safety hazard tho. I think everyone doing that stuff is probably going to come to harm eventually one way or another.
So, one of the wholesalers I’ve been talking to has a couple of contacts who could custom carve me a statue … so she asked me to send a close up of the base of my wooden one … and I just went ‘uh oh’ coz it’s so detailed it will not only be really difficult to carve in crystal, but I imagine will also push the price through the roof.
It looks like little winged beings praying ( see pic) so I’m wondering what the significance of them are before seeing if it’s even possible to make.
I did notice in Thailand a fair few Buddhas sitting on bases that looked like coiled snakes ( Naga’s perhaps?) and am thinking that would both be easier to carve and less costly … but I want to make sure that’s what it is ( a snake or Naga) coz this is going to cost me a lot, and will be my ‘dream Buddha statue’ and very possibly the last one I’ll ever buy since I won’t ever get a better one than a custom made one.
Any info on the winged beings, and clarifying the snake/ naga base is right/ wrong will be very appreciated.
… and realised another on my back deck looks like a flame on top too.
More to that story, and over two days too, but it’s the reason I ended up in Thailand.
…. And look a bit more in to the flame meanings 
