Dharmachakra Mudra

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Buddha displaying Dharmachakra Mudra
The London Peace Pagoda
Battersea Park
Carriage Drive North
Battersea, Wandsworth
London, September 2003

“The Buddha preached his first sermon after his Enlightenment in Deer Park in Sarnath. The dharmachakra Pravartana or ‘turning of the wheel’ mudrā represents that moment. In general, only Gautama Buddha is shown making this mudrā except Maitreya as the dispenser of the Law. Dharmachakra mudrā is two hands close together in front of the chest in vitarka with the right palm forward and the left palm upward, sometimes facing the chest. There are several variants such as in the Ajanta Caves frescoes, where the two hands are separated and the fingers do not touch. In the Indo-Greek style of Gandhara, the clenched fist of the right hand seemingly overlies the fingers joined to the thumb on the left hand.” (Mudra, Wikipedia)