Buddha Subba, now in his mid-sixties, is the patriarch of this triple decker’s multiple inter-related families, all of which make crafts. He was born in 1957 in Dagalepa Village in the Gopini area of Bhutan, At age six his family moved to another village in the Sarbhang distract of Bhutan. These were rural settlements, tied to Bhutan’s long history of craft making which relates to both royal courts and household and farm needs for practical goods such as trays and baskets.
At about age 10 Buddha started to try his hand at stone carving, through observing master carvers as they worked (Rodgers and Umunna 2017, Path to Empowerment, pp. 26-27). He got married as a young man and worked on the farm. As he went about his daily agrarian tasks sometimes he would draw images on interesting big stones that he would encounter (he told us in a 2017 interview in his South Worcester home). He was studying his craft, albeit not in a formal school or workshop as yet. He told us that he was strongly influenced by Indian and Sikkim styles from this early time of practice; this applied to both the technical, physical aspects of carving stone and its figural, artistic dimensions.
Due to threats and overt acts of violence against Nepali-speaking communities in Bhutan, in 1991 Buddha and his young family were forced to flee to a refugee camp in East Nepal. They lived there for decades (a common hardship for many families forced into exile from Bhutan to Nepal).
While in the refugee camp Buddha was active as a stone sculptor working on commission for various temples throughout Nepal. He built up a portfolio of images of the sorts of figures he had carved. Buddha’s family’s own religion is Kirat (an indigenous faith of Bhutan) but he has never hesitated to carve images of Hindu or Buddhist sacred figures or South Asian mythic animals. Kirati adherents practice an ancient, trans-Himalayan religion that is a syncretistic amalgam of Kirati tribal beliefs in ancestors and natural forces and Tibetan Buddhism (the religion of Tibetan traditional kingdoms). These kingships influenced Bhutan civilization centuries ago. Kirati believers living today in Bhutan and Nepal and also in a worldwide diaspora worship a vibrant multiplicity of natural forces and South Asian sacred lords, including ones from Hinduism. Buddhist faith beliefs and ritual practices are woven through this mix.t
While in Nepal. Buddha provided local temples with carved stone idols of Lord Shiva, Lord Krishna, Lord Vishnu, the Elephant God Ganesh, the Sun, the Bull. When Buddha and his family left the refugee camp for the United States for resettlement he was not allowed to take along any long documents. So, he had to leave his portfolio of drawings of his carvings behind. This has been painful for him.
In Worcester since 2012, Buddha has become a specialist in figures of the Buddha. For instance, he carved an entry for the inaugural “Buddhas over Worcester” event at Boundless Way Temple in westside Worcester. His stone statue from that display was purchased by a private collector. Buddha prefers softer stones for carving such as Bhutanese or Indian sandstone. He once commented to Joan and Ellen that the brown sandstone from the old railway station in the Brookfields in central Massachusetts was the sort of material he was looking for. However, he is (of necessity) open to carving harder stones such as marble or granite. He has visited a stone quarry in New Hampshire with Joan and Ellen to choose raw materials. They found that he knew the sculptural qualities of all the different types of stone they saw there.
One time Buddha had the pleasure (and challenge) of carving an idol figure from a 200 pound slab of marble that RAW had obtained for him. Carving the image had a religious dimension for Buddha. He wanted the sculpture-in-progress (out in his backyard) to be protected and respected. So, his daughter Rista planted a little flower garden back there to shelter the stone as it was being worked and as it rested at night. Buddha also commented to us that he is pleased when anyone at all buys his carvings but he does hope that they will treat his sculptures with suitable respect.
He told us that purchasers should not place their new sculpture directly on the floor or on the ground out in the yard. Something like a mat or a thin mattress should be slid under the sculpture so that it will not have direct, defiling contact with the floor or earth. However, he realizes that he does not have control over the future fates of his carvings once they are sold into Massachusetts settings, secular as these often are. Buddha’s sculptures are thus located in interstitial spaces, between Bhutan, Nepal, India, Sikkim, and the United States; between art and idol; between commodity for sale and religious icon.
