Majokthefirst at 12:25, 28 July 2025

2025-07-28T12:25:02Z

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{{short description|Seated pose with one leg hanging down in Indian art and religion}}
[[File:Shiva seated at ease, Later Chola, 12th century - Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art - DSC09147.JPG|thumb|[[Shiva]], [[Chola bronze]], 12th-century]]
[[File:Shanghai Museum 2006 17-49 (cropped).jpg|thumb|Chinese wooden [[Guanyin]] in "royal ease" pose, [[Song dynasty]]]]

'''Lalitasana''' is a pose or [[mudra]] in [[Indian art]] and the art of [[dharmic religions]] in other countries. It is often called "the royal position" or "'''royal ease'''" in English, and is a relaxed pose typical in royal portraits and those of religious figures whose "kingly" attributes are being emphasized. The figure sits on a throne with one leg tucked inwards on the seat and the other hanging down ("pendent") to touch the ground or rest on a support (often a stylized [[lotus throne]]). Usually it is the [[proper right]] leg that dangles, but the reversed image can be found. Bare feet are normal. ''[[Asana]]'' is a general term for a seated pose, from {{langx|sa|आसन}} ''āsana'' "sitting down" (from आस ''ās'' "to sit down"), a sitting posture, a seat.<ref name="mw2">{{cite dictionary |author-link=Monier Monier-Williams |author=Monier-Williams, Monier |year=1899 |title=Asana |dictionary=A Sanskrit-English Dictionary |publisher=Oxford Clarendon Press |url=http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia/ebooks/mw/index.html |page=159}}</ref><ref>{{cite dictionary |last1=MacDonell |first1=Arthur Anthony |title=आसन |dictionary=A Practical Sanskrit Dictionary |publisher=Digital Dictionaries of South Asia |access-date=23 November 2018 |url=https://dsalsrv04.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/app/macdonell_query.py?qs=%E0%A4%86%E0%A4%B8%E0%A4%A8&searchhws=yes }}{{Dead link|date=July 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

Some sources distinguish between the ''lalitasana'' posture, as described above, and the "royal ease" (''maharajalilasana'' or ''rajalilasana''), where the right leg (usually) is bent, and the foot rests on the same level as the sitting body, and the extended arm is placed on the raised knee.<ref>Harle, 216</ref> With all variants the technical phrasing describes a figure as being "in" the pose: "seated in ''lalitasana''".<ref>See museum and other references. Contradictory definitions and distinctions between the variants of the basic pose are seen in the sources.</ref> Other sources regard the two as synonymous.<ref>[https://www.artic.edu/artworks/15722/green-tara-seated-in-pose-of-royal-ease-lalitasana-with-lotus-stalks-on-right-shoulder-and-hands-in-gestures-of-reasoning-vitarkamudra-and-gift-conferring-varadamudra "Green Tara, Seated in Pose of Royal Ease (Lalitasana),..."], Art Institute of Chicago, (a bronze with pendent leg)</ref>

The pose with an arm resting on a raised knee is especially seen in Chinese Buddhist art, for [[bodhisattva]] images,<ref>[https://www.ctwm.org.tw/en/glossary-18.htm "Posture of Royal Ease"], Chung Tai World Museum</ref> but is found in Indian art from at least the 8th century,<ref>Asia, 130–132</ref> with one famous example from the [[Ajanta Caves]] (the Naga-king illustrated below) probably dating to around 478.<ref>Craven, 129</ref> It became associated in China with [[Guanyin]] from the late 9th century.<ref>[https://artmuseum.princeton.edu/collections/objects/23888 "Guanyin seated in Royal-ease pose, ca. 1250"], Princeton University Art Museum</ref> In many Chinese ''lalitasana'' postures, especially for [[Maitreya]], the tucked-in leg rests on the other thigh, which is generally not seen in Indian art.<ref>[https://www.ctwm.org.tw/en/glossary-15.htm "Contemplation Posture"] and [https://www.ctwm.org.tw/en/glossary-14.htm "Lalitasana Posture"], Chung Tai World Museum</ref>

==Details==
[[File:Brahma idol.JPG|thumb|[[Brahma]], 7th-century, [[Aihole]]]]
Very often the proper left hand holds a [[Nelumbo nucifera|lotus flower]], and the right foot may rest on another one. The dangling foot often rests on something, whether a lotus flower, or the figure's ''[[vahana]]'' or "vehicle", the animal that is also an identifying attribute, or a vase. As the pose emphasizes the royal aspect of the figure, they will very often wear a high Indian crown. In Indian art, especially ancient and medieval, the pose is often used for female figures, but in the art of [[Java]] these are very rare, and restricted to figures closely following Indian models. This restriction may well be because the normal female dress (though not worn by deities in art) made the pose impossible for women.<ref>Kempers, 54–55</ref>

The pose with the proper left leg pendent is technically ''savya-lalitasana'' or ''sukhasana'', and with the right leg pendent ''vama-lalitasana''.<ref>''An Encyclopaedia of Buddhist Deities, Demigods, Godlings, Saints and Demons: With Special Focus on Iconographic Attributes, Volume 2'', pp. 1014-1016, 1994, D.K. Printworld, {{ISBN|8124600198}}, 9788124600191</ref>

==History==
The pose is typical in depictions of kings, and sometimes queens and court notables, in early Buddhist sculpture (broadly dating from c. 100 BCE to 200 CE) from sites such as [[Sanchi]], [[Bharhut]] and [[Amaravati]]. Mostly these show scenes from the life or [[Jataka tales|earlier lives]] of the Buddha, but there are other secular scenes.<ref>Rosenfield, 186</ref>

The pose is found for religious figures from [[Kushan art]] (1st to 4th century CE) from [[Gandhara]] and [[Mathura]],<ref>Asia, 125</ref> although at this period it is rare, with a larger number of seated Buddha images, many with crossed legs, a pose that disappears later.<ref>Asia, 120</ref> It becomes increasing popular in the Post-Gupta period of medieval India, and has remained so, being often used in contemporary Hindu imagery in particular.

==Figures commonly shown in ''lalitasana''==
===Buddhist===
In later periods, the pose is very common for bodhisattva images, and deities such as [[Tara (Buddhism)|Tara]], but rare for the Buddha himself, except as the "future Buddha" [[Maitreya]].<ref>Pal, 24</ref> It is often seen depicting the pot-bellied god of wealth, [[Jambhala]] in Buddhism and [[Kubera]] to Hindus.

===Hinduism===
The pose is common for [[Brahma]],<ref>Asia, 132-133</ref> [[Vishnu]], [[Shiva]] and their consorts, from around the Gupta period onwards. Also the [[Matrikas]], who are typically identified by their different animal supporters, and numerous other figures. As a distinctive regional feature, temples in [[Odisha]] in the classic [[Kaḷinga architectural style]] very often have a figure of [[Gajalaxmi]] in lalitasana as their ''lalatabimba'' or central protective image over the doorway to a temple or the sanctuary of one.<ref>Panda, Sasanka Sekhar, [http://magazines.odisha.gov.in/Orissareview/jul2005/engpdf/goddess_laxmi.pdf "Goddess Laksmi: The Consort of the Lord"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210908134954/http://magazines.odisha.gov.in/Orissareview/jul2005/engpdf/goddess_laxmi.pdf |date=2021-09-08 }}, pp. 121-124, ''Orissa Review'', July 2005</ref>

<gallery widths="200" heights="200">
File:Labit - jataka - Scene of gyneceum in an earlier life of Buddha - Ghantasala India.jpg|King and queen in [[Jataka]] scene of an earlier life of the Buddha, c. 200, from [[Ghantasala, Krishna district|Ghantasala]]
File:Engravings in pathway of Ajanta.JPG|Naga-king and consort, Cave 19, [[Ajanta Caves]], c. 478
File:Maitreya (Mile), China, Hebei Province, Quyang, Northern Qi dynasty, 550-577 AD, marble, traces of pigment - Arthur M. Sackler Gallery - DSC05126.jpg|[[Maitreya]], China, Hebei Province, Northern Qi dynasty, 550–577. The Chinese "contemplation posture" variant
File:Ratnagiri ei3-32.jpg|Buddhist [[Jambhala]] at [[Ratnagiri, Odisha]], 8th-century
File:Madhya pradesh o rajasthan, dea madre brahmani seduta nella posizione reale (lalitasana) con servitori, ix secolo.jpg|[[Matrikas|Matrika]] [[Brahmani (Matrika)|Brahmani]] sits in lalitasana, north India, 9th-century
File:Prince of Wales Museum Bombay si0091.jpg|One of the [[Matrikas]], Nepal, [[gilt-bronze]], 14th century. The pendent foot "rests" on a small [[lotus throne]], itself unsupported.
File:God Shiva and Goddess Uma Seated with Their Son, Skanda (Somaskanda) (cropped).jpg|[[Shiva]] and [[Parvati|Uma]] with different pendent legs, late [[Chola art and architecture|Chola bronze]], c. 1400
File:The three-headed rakshasa Trishiras sits in lalitasana on a throne facing a fire altar in which a severed head is burning.jpg|"The [[rakshasa]] king [[Ravana]] sits in lalitasana on a throne facing a [[fire altar]] in which he offers his severed head", [[British Museum]], [[Company style]], [[Tiruchirapalli]], [[Tamil Nadu]], c. 1830
File:Liao Dynasty Avalokitesvara Statue Clear.jpeg|Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara ([[Guanshiyin]]), [[Shanxi]] Province, China. 11th-12th century CE. [[Liao dynasty]] (907-1125 CE). [[Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art]].
</gallery>

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
*"Asia": Barnhart, Richard M., ''Asia'', 1987, Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.), {{ISBN|0870994530}}, 9780870994531, [https://books.google.com/books?id=XExZFpjY5isC&pg=PA125 google books]
*[[Roy C. Craven|Craven, Roy C.]], ''Indian Art: A Concise History'', 1987, Thames & Hudson (Praeger in USA), {{ISBN|0500201463}}
*Harle, J.C., ''The Art and Architecture of the Indian Subcontinent'', 2nd edn. 1994, Yale University Press Pelican History of Art, {{ISBN|0300062176}}
*Kempers, A.J. Bernet, ''The Bronzes of Nalanda and Hindu-Javanese Art'', 1933, BRILL, [https://books.google.com/books?id=qCQVAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA54 google books]
*[[Pratapaditya Pal|Pal, Pratapaditya]], ''Indian Sculpture: Circa 500 B.C.-A.D. 700'', Volume 1 of ''Indian Sculpture: A Catalogue of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art Collection'', 1986, Los Angeles County Museum of Art/University of California Press, {{ISBN|0520059913}}, 9780520059917, [https://books.google.com/books?id=clUmKaWRFTkC&pg=PA79 google books]
*Rosenfield, John M., ''The Dynastic Arts of the Kushans'', 1967, University of California Press, ISSN 0068-5909, [https://books.google.com/books?id=udnBkQhzHH4C&pg=PA186 google books]

{{commons category}}

[[Category:Buddhist iconography]]
[[Category:Hindu iconography]]
[[Category:Mudras]]
[[Category:Sitting asanas]]

Lalitasana - Revision history

Majokthefirst at 12:25, 28 July 2025