In the Indian belief, there are so many gods that even the Indians themselves cannot count them. From the three main gods Brahma, Shiva, and Vishnu to the god of wisdom such as Ganesha, to the bull god, horse god... and so on, it seems that as long as it is an animal, it can become a god in the minds of Indians.
Well, even monkeys can become monkey gods - little Loli's monkey god uncle... It seems like a Bollywood movie...
Okay, that's off topic...
Anyway, there are so many gods in India, and their shapes are all strange. Although the god with four arms in front of him has a very strange shape, Yang Jing recognized the true identity of the god portrayed by this sculpture at a glance.
That’s right, this is not a Buddha statue, but a bronze statue of a god from India, and it is a bronze statue of Lord Shiva, one of the three famous gods in India.
Lord Shiva has five faces, four arms and three eyes. Although the bronze statue in front of us has four arms, one face and three eyes, its posture is really special.
In India, Lord Shiva often appears in this posture. After all, Lord Shiva is also the legendary god of dance, and he knows 108 kinds of dances...
I guess only the God of Dance would turn this ritual movement into a dance movement.
Yang Jing had seen a bronze statue of similar style in an auction yearbook.
The bronze statue that Yang Jing had seen was called "Bronze Statue of Shiva, Lord of Dance, Receiving the Descent of the Ganges". It was a bronze statue from the Chola Dynasty in Tamil Nadu in southern India in the 9th century.
This bronze statue was sold at a high price of US$2.85 million at Christie's - Golden Years - An Siyuan Private Collection Auction in 2015.
However, the bronze statue collected by Mr. An Siyuan is only 41.2 cm high, almost 10 cm shorter than the bronze statue in front of us. The most important thing is that the bronze statue in front of us is not only bigger, but also in better condition.
The statue of Lord Shiva receiving the Ganges River collected by Mr. An Siyuan has turned black, while the bronze statue in front of us is undoubtedly better in both patina and original copper color. Obviously, the bronze statue in front of us must have been worshipped for a long time and wiped frequently, so it can be preserved so well.
I just don't know why this bronze statue, which has been worshipped for a long time, ended up in the hands of dealers in the Panjiayuan Flea Market.
This bronze statue and the one collected by Mr. An Siyuan are almost identical in all aspects except for their size.
If this bronze statue is genuine, then if it is auctioned, it will definitely surpass the "Bronze Statue of Lord Dancing Shiva Receiving the Ganges" treasured by Mr. An Siyuan. Especially recently, there have been several Indians who are ranked among the top tycoons in the world. If you can sell this kind of foreign antique that you don't want to collect but is extremely valuable, it would be quite good.
Thinking of this, Yang Jing pretended to know nothing and said to the stall owner: "Boss, how much are the Buddha statues here? I have an elder in my family who likes Buddhism, and I want to buy one to worship at home."
The stall owner was amused when he heard this. He knew at a glance that the young man was a rookie, both in terms of age and the way he spoke. Why did the guy's eyes look like this? Could he be a foreigner?
Haha, I like foreigners the most, they are stupid and have a lot of money! If I don’t kill you, who else should I kill?
"Hello, little brother. The Buddha statues here are all genuine. Look at this stone Buddha, which was brought from the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang. Look at this one, which was brought from the Longmen Grottoes..."
It is said that taxi drivers in Yanjing are good at talking, but Yang Jing feels that if taxi drivers in Yanjing come to Panjiayuan, they will be talked out of their wits by these traffickers in less than ten minutes!
The vendor was a very good eloquent man, he was very eloquent, he was very eloquent, he was very... Anyway, he talked for three minutes without stopping, and finally explained the origins of the six or seven Buddha statues on his stall. He even said that the statue of Shiva the King of Dance receiving the Ganges was a Bodhisattva invited from the Buddhist holy land of Putuo Mountain...
Finally, the dealer pointed to the Buddha statue that he had brought from the "Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes" and said, "Brother, I see that you are quite sincere. The Buddha likes sincere people, so I suggest you take this statue back."
Yang Jing thought, "Since I'm pretending to be blind, I might as well pretend to be blind to the end." So he asked with a smile, "How much is this Buddha statue?"
"Little brother, you can't ask how much money when you pray to the Buddha. You're violating a taboo. You should say I want to offer 20,000 yuan as an incense offering to the Buddha..."
Yang Jing rolled his eyes, regretting playing dumb. While the boss was nagging, Yang Jing used the holy ring to identify the bronze statue, confirming that it was genuine and that it came from the same place and dynasty as the bronze statue collected by Mr. An Siyuan.
Damn it, this guy actually asked for 20,000 yuan for a stone Buddha that was obviously produced in batches by a stone factory, and he even called it "incense money for Buddha"! Are you a little monk serving Buddha?
Yang Jing shook his head, looked at the boss with a smile but said nothing.
The boss smiled and said, "Little brother, you are here to pray to the Buddha. There is nothing else to pray to the Buddha except sincerity. So you can't be too fussy about the incense money!"
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It’s even more exciting later!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
