Configuration: The Buddha gestures with his right hand at his chest, as if beckoning rain to come. The left hand is cupped to hold water from the expected shower.
Variants: The Buddha may be represented as either seated or standing making the abovementioned gestures with his hands the drapery may imitate the Gandhara style of northwestern India. King Rama I decreed that his type of seated image should be created, and since the Bangkok period a statue in this pose has been carried in procession during the ploughing festival in mid-May.
Narrative: King Rama V decreed The Standing variant whereas King Rama I initiated the seated version.
If standing, his right hand is in the vitarka mudra of instruction, the left hand cupped as if to accept a donation. The monastic robe is treated in a symmetrical rippled fashion imitative of the Gandhara School of art in northwestern India. The feet are placed in a realistic pose, less formal than other figure characteistic of the early periods of Thai sculpture. This pose was popular during the Dvaravati (Mon) period.
If seated cross-legged, the left hand is raised in the position of calling and the right hand is ready to receive water.