Buddha Statues for Water Features, Made to Order in Marble

Buddha statues for water features

A Buddha beside still water is one of the oldest pairings in Buddhist art. The story behind it is old too: the naga Mucalinda rose from a lake to shelter the meditating Buddha from a storm. This collection is made for that setting. Every piece here is a marble Buddha statue designed to sit at the edge of a koi pond, an atrium pool, a reflecting pool, a tabletop fountain or an indoor water channel. Each one is raised on a lotus base or plinth so the stone sits clear of the water.

The forms in this collection

Each design has a different gesture, and a different kind of water suits it:

• Buddha under the naga hood, 30 inch: seated in meditation on the coiled naga, with seven hoods spread above. This is the form that comes from the lake story itself.
• Meditating Buddha for an indoor water feature, 4 ft and the large meditating Buddha for an atrium, 6 ft: dhyana mudra, with the hands resting in the lap. These are the calmest pieces for a pool you look across.
• Earth-touching Buddha for a koi pond, 3 ft: bhumisparsha mudra, with the right hand reaching down to the ground. It is the moment of enlightenment.
• Dharmachakra Buddha for a temple pond, 3 ft: both hands turn the wheel at the chest. This is the first sermon at Sarnath, and it suits a monastery or meditation hall pond.
• Teaching Buddha for a tabletop fountain, 18 inch: vitarka mudra. It is small enough for a fountain on a console or a reception desk.
• Standing Buddha for an indoor pool courtyard, 5 ft: abhaya mudra, with the palm raised. Placed at the head of a long channel, it reads as a vertical anchor.
• Reclining Buddha for a reflecting pool, 5 ft long: the parinirvana form laid along the water, so that the pool doubles the figure.
• Walking Buddha for an indoor water channel, 4 ft: the Sukhothai walking form, with the right hand in abhaya. Set at the far end of a rill, he seems to walk along the water toward you.
• Minimal meditating Buddha for a modern water feature, 30 inch: the seated form pared to a few smooth planes on a plain block. It suits a concrete or stone courtyard where ornament would compete with the water.

The Buddha mudra collection explains each gesture in more depth.

Choosing the stone for a water feature

Every Buddha statue in this collection is shown in Vietnam white marble in a cool, milky white with a soft satin polish. Beside water that colour stays clean and bright, and the satin surface shows wet light without the glare of a mirror polish. Vietnam white is best under a roof: an atrium, a covered courtyard, a veranda or an indoor pond.

If your water feature is open to the sky, ask for the same form in black stone or Dholpur pink sandstone. Both handle sun and rain far better. Makrana white marble is the other white we work in, and cast marble dust is lighter for a balcony fountain where weight matters. The garden Buddha collection covers outdoor stone in detail.

Sizing a Buddha to the water

The Buddhas here run from an 18 inch tabletop piece to a 6 ft figure on a tall plinth, and a 5 ft long reclining figure. Size the statue to the water, not only to the room:

• A tabletop fountain or a small basin suits a seated Buddha of 12 to 24 inches.
• An indoor koi pond or a temple pond suits 3 to 4 ft, set on the pond's edge or on a plinth standing in the water.
• An atrium pool or a long reflecting pool can carry 5 to 6 ft, or a reclining figure laid along its length.

A good rule is that the statue's height should be about a third to a half of the longest side of the water.

Keeping marble and water apart

Marble near water ages well only if the water stays off it. Each Buddha statue here is designed with a lotus base or plinth that lifts the figure above the waterline. Ask for the plinth to be taller if your pump splashes, if the water level rises and falls, or if a fountain jet sits close to the figure.

Three things mark white marble near a water feature: hard water, which leaves white mineral rings as it dries; chlorinated pool water, which dulls the polish; and algae where the stone stays damp. Keep the jet or spout pointed away from the statue. Use soft or filtered water in a recirculating fountain. Tell us the kind of water feature when you enquire, so the base can be shaped for it.

Reading the form against the water

Water changes how a statue is seen. A reflecting pool doubles a long, low form, which is why the reclining Buddha suits it. A narrow channel leads the eye to its far end, which suits a standing Buddha placed at the head of it. A round pond is seen from every side, so a seated figure with a finished back works best there. The naga Buddha carries its own story of the lake, so it belongs where the water is the point of the room.

Caring for a marble Buddha by the water

Wipe the Buddha statue with a soft, dry or barely damp cloth, and dry it after any splash. Never use acid cleaners, vinegar or bleach on marble: they etch the satin polish. Clean the pond or fountain regularly, so the stone is not standing in algae. Every few months, look along the base for mineral rings and wipe them off while they are still light.

Make it yours

These Buddha statues for water features are a starting point. Choose a form, tell us about your pond, pool or fountain (its size, whether it is covered, and where the statue will stand), and the master sculptors we work with in Rajasthan will carve it to suit. You can change the size, the plinth height, the stone or the mudra. If you have a different idea, such as a photo of a Buddha you saw at a temple or a design you have drawn, send that too. Every piece is made to order and delivered to your door.