Buddha Rūpa

Buddha Rūpa ; An image of the Buddha. For 500 years the person of the Buddha was considered too holy to be depicted in the form of an image. At Sanchi, for instance, the symbols of the vacant throne or the footprint are used; at Amarāvati (second century A.D.) both symbolic and actual representation were used (see

Gandhāra). Buddha rūpas represent the Blessed One as seated, standing, or recumbent (lying on the right side). In the images found in the Theravāda School the four most common Mudrās (gestures) are: Bhūmisparsa, or ‘Calling the Earth to witness’. Here the right hand is stretched down over the right knee; the Dhyāna, or

Samādhi, with the hands folded in the lap in Meditation; the Abhaya, meaning fearlessness, the mudrā of Protection or Blessing. Here v the right hand is raised, palm forward. Fourthly, the Dharmacakra, or Teaching mudrā, where the Buddha is ‘setting in motion the Wheel of the Law’. Here the raised right hand

has at least two fingers closed, or the two hands may be touching in more complex form. In M. Schools a great variety of forms are used, especially in Tibetan Bsm. In iconography there are also Rūpas of Bodhisattvas and lesser members of the Bst. pantheon.

(See Mudrā.)