The Origin and Development of the Ushnisha

Throughout the long course of humankind’s religious history, spiritually inspired artists have attempted to depict the other-worldly status of saints and spiritual teachers in a variety of ways. Some of these have included the use of nimbus and proportionality. One of the unique features of Buddhist iconography is the use of the ushnisha, or crown of hair, in its attempt to secure Shakyamuni Buddha’s transcendent status. We will now briefly explore the development of the ushnisha in the long history of Buddhist iconography.

In its original function, the ushnisha was intended to be symbolize a crown atop the head of the Buddha. In Shakyamuni’s pre-ascetic life, he was the prince Siddhartha. It is quite possible that this kshatriya origin of Siddhartha’s is what the ushnisha, in its function as a crown, is partially a reflection of. What is known for sure is that incorporated into the new Buddhist movement were direct remnants of the earlier Chakravarti tradition of pre-Buddhist North India. According to this religio-political principle, at certain times in history a perfect monarch rules the known world. Known as the Chakravarti, this perfect king is at the center of a concentrically expanding regime based upon the ideals of Dharma, or Natural Law. One of several characteristic features of this ideal monarch is a crown of hair known as ushnisha. The Buddha was viewed by his followers as being one such perfect Chakravarti. As we will see, however, the precise symbolic content of the ushnisha, as well as its stylistic representation, seems to have undergone a slow transformation as time progressed.

Some of the earliest depictions of the ushnisha are found in the Greco-Roman inspired art of the Gandhara period. At this time the ushnisha is most definitely depicting a crown. In keeping with the Greek influence on Gandharan art, the Buddha’s hair is generally wavy and voluminous. The ushnisha atop the Buddha’s head is an unmistakable gathering of his hair into a chignon. In later periods, both the style and the explanation of the ushnisha undergoes a radical change.

As more indigenously South Asian depictions of the Buddha begin to emerge, we begin to see the ushnisha become more schematic. The ushnisha increasingly becomes an infinitely complex matrix of small curls. In some depictions, the ushnisha resembles more of a protuberance coming directly from the skull than a chignon of hair. Indeed, as we trace the evolution of the ushnisha into South-East Asia, we see the chignon replaced altogether by either a flame or a lotus flower. The reason for this stylistic change may lie in the fact that, rather than still symbolizing the crown of the Cakravarti, the ushnisha is now increasing interpreted as a symbol of the spiritual power of the Buddha’s enlightenment. One might even venture to speculate that the protrusion emanating from the top of the Buddha’s head might represent the opening of the sahasrara (or thousand petalled lotus) chakra during the Buddha’s enlightenment experience.

While the ushnisha has been an omnipresent and important feature of many iconographical representations of Shakyamuni Buddha, whether or not the Buddha actually even had an ushnisha is somewhat doubtful. The textual evidence seems to indicate that the Buddha had a completely shaved head. In one account, for example, there is the story of the hunter who happened upon the Buddha in the forest. When he saw the Buddha sitting in the middle of the forest, the hunter, it is said, took the vision of the fully bald head of Shakyamuni as an inauspicious omen and gave up his hunting for the day. Baldness, along with gauntness of body and moroseness of features, were seen in traditional South Asian culture as representations of bad fortune, and therefore as signs of foreboding. In another story which seems to indicate that the Buddha did not have an ushnisha, a person wanted to give alms to a brahmana, as was the custom in traditional Hindu society. When he first saw the Buddha, in his flowing monk’s robes, he was at first convinced that this was indeed one such brahmana. On closer inspection, however, he saw that this “brahmana” was missing the usual shikha, or tuft of hair on the back of the head, that brahmanas usually wear. Instead, the Buddha was reported to have had a completely shaved head. These textual accounts, then, make it debatable whether the Buddha had an ushnisha or not.

The ushnisha, then, has had a long and evolving presence in Buddhist iconography. It’s ultimate purpose, however, is not to necessarily accurately depict the physical features of the historical Shakyamuni , but to communicate to its viewer the special status accorded to, and spiritual power manifest in, the religious ideal of the Buddha.

Source

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