Auspicious and Extraordinary: Macao Museum Exhibition

Macao Art Museum Buddha's Nest, also known as "Gawu", is a transliteration of Tibetan, mostly referring to the Buddha box ornaments that are hung around the neck or carried on the back, most of which contain Buddha statues, Dharma protector statues or amulets, which are commonly used in Tibetan Buddhism as personal protective items. This Buddha's nest is made of 90% gold, in the shape of a round box. The gold box lid is fully inlaid with trapezoidal concentric circles of turquoise, and the side has three decorative bands of turquoise inlay and lotus patterns. The box lid has detachable ears on both sides, which can be worn around the neck with a string, as a protective Buddha box. The box is filled with green-painted wooden carvings of caves, with a silver Green Tara in the middle. Tara's face is gilded, her right hand is in the wish-fulfilling mudra, her left hand is in the teaching mudra, her body is inlaid with turquoise, azurite, beeswax, etc., and she is seated on a gold seat decorated with bead and lotus petal patterns. There is a yellow paper tag attached, with inscriptions in Chinese, Manchu, Mongolian, and Tibetan. The Chinese inscription reads: "On the seventh day of the eighth month of the 45th year of Qianlong, the Panchen Lama Erdene offered his congratulations on the Emperor's seventieth birthday, presented a red book, and presented the ancient Buddha of the Great Benefit Green-clothed Tara." Here, "Great Benefit" means great merit. According to the inscription, this Buddha's nest should be a birthday gift presented by the Sixth Panchen Lama on the occasion of Emperor Qianlong's seventieth birthday.