Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Depictions of the Buddha in art




Buddhas are frequently represented in the form of statues and paintings. Commonly seen designs include:
the Seated Buddha
the Reclining Buddha
the Standing Buddha
Hotei or Budai, the obese Laughing Buddha, usually seen in China (This figure is believed to be a representation of a medieval Chinese monk who is associated with Maitreya, the future Buddha, and is therefore technically not a Buddha image.)
the Emaciated Buddha, which shows Siddhartha Gautama during his extreme ascetic practice of starvation.
The Buddha statue shown calling for rain is a pose common in Laos.

Markings
Most depictions of Buddha contain a certain number of markings, which are considered the signs of his enlightenment. These signs vary regionally, but two are common:
a protuberance on the top of the head (denoting superb mental acuity)
long earlobes (denoting superb perception)
In the Pali Canon there is frequent mention of a list of 32 physical marks of Buddha.

Hand-gestures
The poses and hand-gestures of these statues, known respectively as asanas and mudras, are significant to their overall meaning. The popularity of any particular mudra or asana tends to be region-specific, such as the Vajra (or Chi Ken-in) mudra, which is popular in Japan and Korea but rarely seen in India. Others are more common; for example, the Varada (Wish Granting) mudra is common among standing statues of the Buddha, particularly when coupled with the Abhaya (Fearlessness and Protection) mudra.

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