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Buddharupa (????????, literally, "Form of the Awakened One") is the Sanskrit
Sanskrit

Sanskrit is a historical Indo-Aryan language, one of the liturgical languages of Hinduism and Buddhism, and one of the 22 official languages of India....
 and Pali
Páli

P?li is a village in Gyor-Moson-Sopron county, Hungary.External links...
 term used in Buddhism
Buddhism

Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices considered by most to be a religionand is based on the teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as "The Buddha" , who was born in what is today Nepal....
 for statues or models of the Buddha
Gautama Buddha

Siddhartha Gautama was a Spirituality teacher in the northern region of the Indian subcontinent who founded Buddhism. He is generally seen by Buddhists as the Supreme Buddhahood of our age....
.

ite cultural and regional differences in the interpretations of texts about the life of the Buddha
Gautama Buddha

Siddhartha Gautama was a Spirituality teacher in the northern region of the Indian subcontinent who founded Buddhism. He is generally seen by Buddhists as the Supreme Buddhahood of our age....
, there are some general guidelines to the attributes of a Buddharupa:

The elongated earlobes are vestiges of his life as a prince, when he wore extravagant jewellery.






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Buddharupa (????????, literally, "Form of the Awakened One") is the Sanskrit
Sanskrit

Sanskrit is a historical Indo-Aryan language, one of the liturgical languages of Hinduism and Buddhism, and one of the 22 official languages of India....
 and Pali
Páli

P?li is a village in Gyor-Moson-Sopron county, Hungary.External links...
 term used in Buddhism
Buddhism

Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices considered by most to be a religionand is based on the teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as "The Buddha" , who was born in what is today Nepal....
 for statues or models of the Buddha
Gautama Buddha

Siddhartha Gautama was a Spirituality teacher in the northern region of the Indian subcontinent who founded Buddhism. He is generally seen by Buddhists as the Supreme Buddhahood of our age....
.

Commonalities

Despite cultural and regional differences in the interpretations of texts about the life of the Buddha
Gautama Buddha

Siddhartha Gautama was a Spirituality teacher in the northern region of the Indian subcontinent who founded Buddhism. He is generally seen by Buddhists as the Supreme Buddhahood of our age....
, there are some general guidelines to the attributes of a Buddharupa:
  • Fingers and toes are elongated proportionately
  • Long, aquiline nose
  • Elongated earlobes
  • Head protuberance
  • Broad shoulders


The elongated earlobes are vestiges of his life as a prince, when he wore extravagant jewellery. The "head protuberance" symbolises the loose connection between the mind and the body of a Buddha or Bodhisattva
Bodhisattva

In the Buddhist context, a bodhisattva means either "enlightened existence " or "enlightenment-being" or, given the variant Sanskrit spelling satva rather than sattva, "heroic-minded one for enlightenment "....
.

Regional variations

From a gaunt, seated ascetic to a laughing big-bellied wanderer, depictions of the Buddha vary widely across cultures.

Proportions

The Buddharupas of India, Tibet, and the other Buddhist cultures usually depict a well proportioned figure, but sometimes he is shown emaciated, in recollection of the Buddha
Gautama Buddha

Siddhartha Gautama was a Spirituality teacher in the northern region of the Indian subcontinent who founded Buddhism. He is generally seen by Buddhists as the Supreme Buddhahood of our age....
's years of ascetic practices. Japanese Buddharupas are often very square and stolid, while Indian and Southeast Asian ones often have thinner figures.

Many Westerners are familiar with the Hotei
Hotei

Budai or Budai Luohan, pronounced Hotei in Japanese language, is a figure that appears throughout Chinese culture. He is a representation of contentment and abundance, and is sometimes seen as a deity by religious Taoism and Buddhists....
 "Happy" or "Laughing" Buddharupa. He is depicted as fat and happy, often travelling or bearing wealth. This is a Chinese image, and is in fact a Chinese Buddhist monk who so completely and totally embodied the buddha-nature of all sentient beings that he was himself considered to be a Buddha.

Postures, gestures and artefacts

He is sometimes shown reclining, recalling the Buddha Shakyamuni's departure into final nirvana.

Sometimes he is holding various symbolic objects, or making symbolic mudra
Mudra

A mudra is a symbolic or ritual gesture in Hinduism and Buddhism. While some mudras involve the entire body, most are performed with the hands and fingers....
s (gestures).

The clothing also varies; in China and Japan, where it is considered socially improper for monks and nuns to expose the upper arm, the Buddharupa has a tunic and long sleeves, much like the traditional monks and nuns, while in India they are often topless.

See also

  • Buddhist art
    Buddhist art

    Buddhist art originated on the Indian subcontinent following the historical life of Gautama Buddha, 6th to 5th century BCE, and thereafter evolved by contact with other cultures as it spread throughout Asia and the world....
  • Puja (Buddhism)
    Puja (Buddhism)

    In Buddhism, puja are expressions of "honour, worship, devotional attention." Acts of puja include bowing, making offerings and chanting. These devotional acts are generally performed daily at home as well as during communal festivals and Uposatha days at a temple....
     - devotional practices often done in tandem with a Buddha statue
  • Rupa
    Rupa

    In Hinduism and Buddhism, rupa generally refers to material objects, particularly in regards to their appearance....
  • Physical characteristics of the Buddha
    Physical characteristics of the Buddha

    Although Gautama Buddha was not Buddhist art until around the 1st century CE, the physical characteristics of the Buddha are described in one of the central texts of the traditional Pali canon, the Digha Nikaya, in the "Discourse of the Marks" , and are also enumerated in the Brahmayu Sutta of the Majjhima Nikaya ....