A Buddhist priest figurine

COMMENT. The silver figurine portrays a standing barefoot bhikkhu, a member of the Buddhist monastic community (sangha), at the time of the traditional collecting alms food (pinda). He holds in his hands alms bowl called "pata" or "patra". The Sanskrit term "bhikkhu" means "one who lives alms", and the everyday collecting alms food is called "pindapata". To date, the custom of pindapata has been fully preserved only in the provincial areas of Cambodia, Thailand, Laos and Myanmar (formerly Burma).