India: The Bodhisattva Maitreya, bronze and silver, Kashmir, c. 800 CE

Maitreya (Sanskrit), Metteyya (Pāli), Maithree (Sinhala), or Jampa (Tibetan) is a bodhisattva who in the Buddhist tradition is to appear on Earth, achieve complete enlightenment, and teach the pure dharma. According to scriptures, Maitreya will be a successor of the historic Śakyamuni Buddha.

The prophecy of the arrival of Maitreya references a time when the Dharma will have been forgotten on Jambudvipa. It is found in the canonical literature of all Buddhist sects (Theravada, Mahayana, Vajrayana), and is accepted by most Buddhists as a statement about an event that will take place when the Dharma will have been forgotten on Earth.

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