Nang Talinee: Lao Earth Goddess

In the first photo Buddha is sitting with the "Earth-witnessing gesture" which symbolizeds the moment in the Buddha's life when he touched the ground during his struggle with Mara. This gesture summoned the Earth Goddess. The Buddha called her to bear witness to the merit, or virtue, he had acquired in his prvious lives and the steadfastness with which he withsood Mara's attack. Beneath Buddha you can see the Earth Goddess, Nang Talinee. And you can also see that Buddha is protected from the rain by the Seven-headed naga king, Muchalinda. This photo was take on the backside of Phusi in Luang Prabang. In the second photo below the first you see a close up of a relief of Nang Talinee, the Lao Earth Goddess in the position of wringing out the water from her hair which washed away Mara and his followers and "saved" Buddha. This relief is part of a fountain at Wat Ong Teu in Vientiane, Laos