Existing comment:
Outward Signs, Inner Perfection
No matter when or where an image of the Buddha was made, notable markers of his identity remain the same. These characteristics, which include the cranial bump or hair bun (ushnisha) and the dot between his eyes (urna), are outward signs of his inner perfection. His long earlobes, stretched by the heavy earrings he wore as a prince, remind us that he renounced all worldly attachments.
Carved over fifteen hundred years in four different countries, these sculptures cover a wide chronological and geographical span. Yet each is identifiable as the Buddha |