A rare and ancient Indian relic worth hundreds of thousands of pounds will go on show at a Bradford museum.

The £850,000 statue - a standing figure of the Buddha Sakyamuni - will be on display at Cartwright Hall in Manningham's Lister Park.

The seventh century statue is the first of its age, kind and quality to be seen by the public in a European collection.

The Buddha has been bought jointly by the Victoria and Albert and British Museums.

The Heritage Lottery Fund paid £621,500 towards the purchase and the National Art Collections fund £100,000. The rest was made up by private donors to the museums.

Bradford Council's director of arts, heritage and leisure, Jane Glaister, said: "This is part of our developing relationship with the Victoria and Albert.

"We sent a letter of support to the Heritage Lottery Fund when the museum applied for a grant. This is a wonderful object which we are proud to be exhibiting at Cartwright Hall."

The gold-toned, foot-high figure depicts the Buddha in the style of the late Gupta period in India in the late 6th or early 7th century.

Made of copper alloy, it features a finely carved head with stylised hair curls and delicate features.

The robes are folded and drawn across both shoulders and "wet drapery defines the bodily form beneath. The downward cast of its eyes suggests it was designed to be displayed high up on an altar or to be carried in processions, say the museum's experts.

The statue will be the centrepiece of a loan exhibition of Indian Buddhist sculpture from the Victoria and Albert Museum, arriving in Bradford as part of a national tour in February next year.

The director of the Victoria and Albert Museum, Mark Jones, said: "The museum has wanted to acquire a Gupta-style Buddha for more than 40 years. This is a rare and beautiful object which adds immensely to our Indian collections."

The Buddha is on display for three months in the Indian sculpture gallery at the Victoria and Albert. It will then be displayed at the British Museum and from there will tour to Birmingham, Bradford, Leicester and Exeter.

The director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, said: "This magnificent object is a document of Buddhism's spiritual and artistic inheritance and contribution to world civilisation.

"I am delighted that these two museums can come together to make this acquisition for the nation and show it in a new way that means it will be seen by people the length and breadth of Britain."