Sacred images in Buddhism

IThe early period before images of the Buddha

In the earliest Buddhist art, the Buddha does not appear in human form. His place is marked by a sign: a pair of footprints, an empty seat, or the empty space under a parasol. The Bodhi tree, the Dharma wheel and the stupa belong to the same group of signs, and they are common on the reliefs of Sanchi, Bharhut and Amaravati.

The Buddha's footprints (buddhapada) remained objects of veneration even after statues existed. Britannica notes that the footprints and other traces of the Buddha continued to be worshipped alongside relics, stupas and images.

IIThe first statues of the Buddha

Images of the Buddha in human form appear in the Kushan period, around the 1st century CE. Two centres each created their own type of statue and then influenced each other: Gandhara in the northwest (now in Pakistan and Afghanistan) and Mathura in north central India. The sources consulted do not state which came first.

Gandhara

How to recognize: A youthful face, wavy hair, a thick robe with many folds covering both shoulders

The clearest Greek and Roman influence. Britannica compares the face to the god Apollo, and the Metropolitan Museum compares the robe to the Roman toga. The material is grey-green schist, and from the 3rd century stucco was widely used. The statues were originally painted and gilded.

Source: Britannica, Gandhara art. Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gandhara. Metropolitan Museum of Art, Buddhism and Buddhist Art.

Mathura

How to recognize: Broad shoulders, a full chest, a thin robe leaving the right shoulder bare, the right hand raised in the abhaya mudra

Carved in the spotted red sandstone of the region, continuing the local tradition of yaksha statues. The famous seated figure from Katra has the form of a Buddha, but the inscription carved on the statue itself calls it a Bodhisattva.

Source: Britannica, Mathura art. Metropolitan Museum of Art, Buddhism and Buddhist Art.

Gupta

How to recognize: Small snail-shell curls, downcast eyes, a thin robe that seems to cling to the body

The Gupta period (4th to 6th centuries) brought the features of Gandhara and Mathura together into a type that the Metropolitan Museum calls an ideal. This type later became the model for Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Indonesia and China. The most famous piece is the statue of the Buddha preaching his first sermon at Sarnath, 5th century: the hands form the dharmachakra mudra, and on the base are a wheel and a pair of deer.

Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art, Buddhism and Buddhist Art. Britannica, Mathura art. Wikipedia, Buddha Preaching his First Sermon (Sarnath). University of Washington, Silk Road Seattle, a Gupta period Buddha.

IIIHow to recognize a statue of the Buddha

Marks on the body

Tradition holds that the Buddha bore the thirty-two marks of a great man, recorded in the Lakkhana Sutta (Digha Nikaya 30) and the Brahmayu Sutta (Majjhima Nikaya 91). Statues do not show all thirty-two. The three most often seen are the ushnisha (the protuberance on the top of the head), the urna (the spot between the eyebrows, which the texts describe as a tuft of white hair) and the long earlobes, a reminder of the heavy earrings the prince took off when he left home. Scholars also discuss when the list of thirty-two marks took shape.

A Buddha wears the robe of a monk and no jewellery. A Bodhisattva wears rich garments and jewellery. This is an easy sign for telling the two groups of statues apart.

Four postures

Statues of the Buddha have four basic postures: seated, standing, walking and reclining. Seated statues usually sit cross-legged in the full lotus position, and some sit with both legs pendant as on a chair. The Buddha lying on his right side is the scene of his approaching final Nirvana. The walking Buddha is a creation of the Sukhothai art of Thailand from the 14th century. Britannica notes that India had no canonical type of walking Buddha.

Mudras, the hand gestures of statues

Some sources describe the varada mudra with the left hand and some with the right. Both are found on statues, so the library does not give either hand as the rule.

A Thai custom: one posture of the Buddha for each day of the week

In Thailand and Laos there is a custom of matching a posture of the Buddha to people born on each day of the week. It is a living folk custom, not something taught in the scriptures. The list below follows the Buddhistdoor dictionary, while the article in the magazine Silpa Wattanatham discusses only the Monday posture. The Wikipedia article on Buddha iconography in Laos and Thailand does not give this list. None of the sources comes from academic research.

IVThe Buddhas on the altar

Theravada Buddhism venerates mainly Shakyamuni Buddha. Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism also venerate many other Buddhas. Below are the ones most often seen and the signs that identify each.

Shakyamuni

Śākyamuni · 釋迦牟尼 · ShakaHow to recognize: The robe of a monk, usually in the earth-touching, meditation or dharmachakra mudra

The historical Buddha, venerated by every tradition. Besides the statues of the enlightenment and of teaching, there are three types of statue for particular stages of his life. The birth statue shows an infant standing, one hand pointing to the sky and the other to the earth. In Japan, on the Buddha's birthday, people pour sweet tea over this statue. In the temples of northern Vietnam, the newborn stands among nine dragons, an image called Tòa Cửu Long (the Nine Dragon Seat). The Tuyết Sơn (Snowy Mountain) statue shows Shakyamuni emaciated to the bone during his six years of austerities before the enlightenment, and chùa Keo, chùa Tây Phương and chùa Bút Tháp all have one. For the same stage of life, Gandharan art has the famous ascetic figure in the Lahore Museum, more accurately called the ascetic Prince Siddhartha, since he was not yet a Buddha.

Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art, Buddhism and Buddhist Art. JAANUS, tanjoubutsu. Dr. Lê Tâm Đắc (Institute for Religious Studies), Bàn về đối tượng thờ trong các ngôi chùa Việt ở miền Bắc (On the objects of worship in Vietnamese temples of the north). Thế giới và Việt Nam newspaper, Báu vật gần 400 tuổi ở chùa Keo (A treasure nearly 400 years old at chùa Keo). Majid Sheikh, Dawn newspaper, 15/03/2020, on the ascetic statue in the Lahore Museum.

Amitabha

Amitābha · 阿彌陀佛 · Amida · འོད་དཔག་མེད་How to recognize: Usually forms a triad with Avalokiteshvara and Mahasthamaprapta

The Buddha who presides over the Western Pure Land of Sukhavati, at the centre of Pure Land practice in East Asia. In Vajrayana he is one of the five Buddhas, red in colour, with his hands in the meditation mudra. The triad of Amitabha, Avalokiteshvara and Mahasthamaprapta is called the Three Sages of the West, or the Amitabha Triad. In Vietnam, the stone Amitabha of chùa Phật Tích (Bắc Ninh), set up in 1057 under the Lý dynasty, is a national treasure. In Japan there is the Great Buddha of Kamakura, whose casting began in 1252, about 11.3 metres tall, and the statue by Jōchō at Byōdō-in, made in 1053.

Source: Britannica, Amitabha. JAANUS, Amida sanzon. Tiền Phong newspaper, Giải mã bảo vật quốc gia (Decoding national treasures). Znews, Nguồn gốc tên gọi Phật Tích (The origin of the name Phật Tích). Thanh Tra newspaper, Công nhận bảo vật quốc gia 30 hiện vật (30 objects recognized as national treasures). Kōtoku-in temple, introduction to the Great Buddha of Kamakura. Byōdō-in temple, the Amida statue by Jōchō.

Bhaishajyaguru, the Medicine Buddha

Bhaiṣajyaguru · Yakushi NyoraiHow to recognize: Holds a medicine bowl. Tibetan images show him with a blue body, also holding a branch of myrobalan fruit

The Buddha of healing, who presides over the Pure Land of the East, attended by twelve yaksha generals. He is widely venerated in Tibet, China and Japan.

Source: Britannica, Bhaishajya-guru.

Vairocana, Dainichi

Vairocana · Dainichi NyoraiHow to recognize: A white body, hands in the dharmachakra mudra, his symbol the wheel

Many Mahayana traditions in East Asia, Tibet, Nepal and Java regard him as the supreme Buddha. Sometimes he is counted as one of the five Buddhas (Vairocana, Akshobhya, Ratnasambhava, Amitabha, Amoghasiddhi), and sometimes as the source of all five. The five are carved almost alike and are told apart by body colour, symbol, mudra and direction. The Great Buddha of the Fengxian niche at Longmen (672 to 675) and the Great Buddha of Tōdai-ji in Nara (eyes consecrated in 752) are both Vairocana. In Japan, under the name Dainichi, he is the most venerated figure of the Shingon school.

Source: Britannica, Vairochana. Britannica, Dhyani-Buddha. UNESCO, Longmen Grottoes. Smarthistory, Longmen caves. Tōdai-ji temple, the Great Buddha Hall. Smarthistory, Tōdai-ji.

Maitreya

Maitreya · Metteyya · 彌勒 · Miroku · བྱམས་པ་How to recognize: Either a Bodhisattva wearing a crown or a Buddha seated with both legs pendant. In China and Vietnam, a laughing monk with a large belly

The future Buddha, now a Bodhisattva in the Tushita heaven. Britannica notes that Maitreya is the only Bodhisattva generally venerated in the Theravada tradition. In Korea and Japan in the 6th to 7th centuries there is a type of pensive Bodhisattva in half-lotus, one foot resting on the knee and a finger touching the cheek, usually taken to be Maitreya. The Leshan Giant Buddha in Sichuan, 71 metres tall and carved from 713 to 803, is Maitreya. The figure of the big-bellied monk is Budai, a Chinese monk of the 10th century named Qici (契此), who often carried a cloth sack. The Chinese believed him to be an incarnation of Maitreya, so statues of Budai are venerated as Maitreya. This laughing Buddha is not Shakyamuni.

Source: Britannica, Maitreya. Metropolitan Museum of Art, Pensive bodhisattva. Metropolitan Museum of Art, Pensive Treasure. Britannica, Leshan Giant Buddha. UNESCO, Mount Emei and Leshan Giant Buddha. JAANUS, Hotei. British Museum, Budai figure of 1486. Bowers Museum, A Budai by Any Other Name.

Buddhas of the Three Times

三世佛How to recognize: Three identical seated Buddhas of the same size, in a row on the highest tier

In the temples of northern Vietnam, the three Tam Thế statues sit on lotus thrones on the top tier of the Buddha hall and stand for the Buddhas of the past, present and future. Dr. Lê Tâm Đắc writes that, when divided by time, the three are Dipankara (past), Shakyamuni (present) and Maitreya (future). The Himalayan tradition also names the Buddhas of the three ages with these three names. The Tam Thế set of chùa Côn Sơn (17th century) and the set at chùa Bút Tháp are national treasures. Vietnamese sources do not explain these three statues in the same way. See the section on what the library is not sure of.

Source: Dr. Lê Tâm Đắc (Institute for Religious Studies), Bàn về đối tượng thờ trong các ngôi chùa Việt ở miền Bắc (On the objects of worship in Vietnamese temples of the north). Phật tử Việt Nam, Cách bố trí tượng thờ trong chùa miền Bắc (How statues are arranged in northern temples), 01/11/2007. Rubin Museum of Art, Buddhas of the Three Times. Văn Hóa newspaper, Độc đáo bộ tượng Tam Thế Phật chùa Côn Sơn (The unique Three Times Buddhas of chùa Côn Sơn). Thanh Tra newspaper, Nơi lưu giữ 4 bảo vật quốc gia (The place that keeps 4 national treasures).

VThe Bodhisattvas

Avalokiteshvara

Avalokiteśvara · 觀音 Guanyin · Kannon · སྤྱན་རས་གཟིགས་ ChenrezigHow to recognize: A small Amitabha on the crown. In East Asia usually holds a water vase and a willow branch

The Bodhisattva of compassion, venerated under many names in every Mahayana country. In India he is Padmapani, a princely figure holding a lotus. In China, before the Song dynasty statues were male, and by about the 12th century most were female, in forms such as the White-robed Guanyin, the Water-Moon Guanyin and the Child-giving Guanyin. The Most Venerable Thích Thanh Từ taught that a Bodhisattva is neither male nor female, and that the mother's form expresses compassion. In Tibet he is Chenrezig, white with four arms: two hands joined at the chest, the other two holding a crystal rosary and a lotus. Japan has many forms of Kannon, including an eleven-headed form. The Thousand-eyed, Thousand-armed Avalokiteshvara of chùa Bút Tháp (Bắc Ninh), in wood, 3.7 metres tall, with eleven heads and carved in 1656, is a national treasure.

Source: Smarthistory, Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara (Guanyin). University of Michigan Museum of Art, Guanyin with a willow branch and vase. JAANUS, Amida sanzon. Himalayan Art Resources, Avalokiteshvara Chaturbhuja. JAANUS, Juuichimen Kannon. VTC News, Bồ tát Quán Thế Âm là nam hay nữ (Is Avalokiteshvara male or female), quoting the Most Venerable Thích Thanh Từ. Thanh Tra newspaper, Nơi lưu giữ 4 bảo vật quốc gia (The place that keeps 4 national treasures). VietNamNet, A visit to But Thap Pagoda.

Manjushri

Mañjuśrī · 文殊 Wenshu · Monju · འཇམ་དཔལ་How to recognize: The right hand raises the sword of wisdom, the left holds a sutra. Seated on a lion

The Bodhisattva of wisdom. Mount Wutai in Shanxi, China, is his sacred mountain. In Vietnamese temples, Manjushri riding a blue lion usually stands on one side of Shakyamuni, with Samantabhadra on the other.

Source: Britannica, Manjushri. Dr. Lê Tâm Đắc (Institute for Religious Studies), Bàn về đối tượng thờ trong các ngôi chùa Việt ở miền Bắc (On the objects of worship in Vietnamese temples of the north).

Samantabhadra

Samantabhadra · 普賢 · FugenHow to recognize: Seated on a white elephant

The Bodhisattva of vows and practice, whose sacred mountain is Mount Emei in Sichuan. Britannica describes his elephant as having three heads, or one head with six tusks. The triad of Shakyamuni, Manjushri and Samantabhadra is found in China, Japan and Vietnam. In Vietnamese temples this triad is usually called Hoa Nghiêm Tam Thánh, the Three Holy Ones of the Avatamsaka.

Source: Britannica, Samantabhadra. Dr. Lê Tâm Đắc (Institute for Religious Studies), Bàn về đối tượng thờ trong các ngôi chùa Việt ở miền Bắc (On the objects of worship in Vietnamese temples of the north).

Kshitigarbha

Kṣitigarbha · 地藏 · Jizō · ས་ཡི་སྙིང་པོ་How to recognize: A monk with a shaven head, holding a staff with rings and a jewel

The Bodhisattva who vowed to save beings in the hells. In China he is regarded as the ruler of the hell realms and is prayed to for the dying. In Japan, Jizō protects the dead, especially young children.

Source: Britannica, Kshitigarbha. Metropolitan Museum of Art, Jizō by Kaikei.

Mahasthamaprapta

Mahāsthāmaprāpta · 大勢至 · SeishiHow to recognize: A water vase on the crown, where Avalokiteshvara has the small Amitabha

Most venerated in the Pure Land schools, standing with Avalokiteshvara on either side of Amitabha. He represents wisdom, and Avalokiteshvara represents compassion.

Source: Britannica, Mahasthamaprapta. JAANUS, Amida sanzon.

Tara

Tārā · སྒྲོལ་མ་ DrolmaHow to recognize: Green Tara sits with the right leg pendant, holding a closed blue lotus. White Tara sits in full lotus, with extra eyes on the forehead, palms and soles

A female Bodhisattva widely venerated in Tibet, Nepal and Mongolia. Legend tells that she was born from a tear of Avalokiteshvara. Tibetan paintings often show twenty-one Taras around Green Tara.

Source: Britannica, Tara. Metropolitan Museum of Art, White Tara and Green Tara.

VIGuardians, Arhats and patriarchs

The protectors

The Four Heavenly Kings

Shitennō (Japan)How to recognize: Four armoured generals, each guarding one direction

Dhritarashtra guards the East, Virudhaka the South, Virupaksha the West and Vaishravana the North. In East Asia the king of the East usually holds a pipa lute, the king of the South a sword, and the king of the West a snake or a dragon. Sources differ on what the king of the North holds: a parasol or a pagoda. In Chinese temples the four stand in the Hall of the Heavenly Kings just inside the gate.

Source: Britannica, lokapala. Wikipedia, Four Heavenly Kings. Wikipedia, Hall of Four Heavenly Kings. Đào Thái Sơn, Bốn hệ tượng Hộ pháp trong các ngôi chùa Việt (Four groups of guardian statues in Vietnamese temples), Giác Ngộ newspaper, 07/07/2017.

The guardians Khuyến Thiện and Trừng Ác

How to recognize: Two very large armoured statues in the front hall of northern temples, seated on the backs of beasts

Popularly called Ông Thiện (Sir Good) and Ông Ác (Sir Fierce). Ông Thiện has a white, gentle face and holds a jewel. Ông Ác has a red, fierce face and holds a weapon. The Vietnamese saying "as big as a Hộ pháp" refers to these two statues.

Source: Dr. Lê Tâm Đắc (Institute for Religious Studies), Bàn về đối tượng thờ trong các ngôi chùa Việt ở miền Bắc (On the objects of worship in Vietnamese temples of the north). Phật tử Việt Nam, Cách bố trí tượng thờ trong chùa miền Bắc (How statues are arranged in northern temples), 01/11/2007. Đào Thái Sơn, Bốn hệ tượng Hộ pháp trong các ngôi chùa Việt (Four groups of guardian statues in Vietnamese temples), Giác Ngộ newspaper, 07/07/2017. Vô Ưu, Hai vị Hộ pháp khuyến thiện trừng ác trong các ngôi chùa Việt (The two guardians in Vietnamese temples), phatgiao.org.vn, 25/07/2020.

Skanda and Tiêu Diện

Skanda · 韋馱 WeituoHow to recognize: Skanda is a young armoured general holding a vajra. Tiêu Diện has a fierce face

In Chinese temples, Skanda stands behind the Budai figure of Maitreya in the Hall of the Heavenly Kings, facing the main hall. In Vietnam, Skanda and Tiêu Diện Đại Sĩ form one of the four groups of guardian statues. Tiêu Diện is understood as a manifestation of Avalokiteshvara, taking a fierce form to subdue evil.

Source: Wikipedia, Skanda (Buddhism). Wikipedia, Hall of Four Heavenly Kings. Đào Thái Sơn, Bốn hệ tượng Hộ pháp trong các ngôi chùa Việt (Four groups of guardian statues in Vietnamese temples), Giác Ngộ newspaper, 07/07/2017.

The Niō of Japan

仁王How to recognize: Two bare-chested strongmen standing on either side of a temple gate, one with an open mouth, one with a closed mouth

The open-mouthed one is Agyō and the closed-mouthed one is Ungyō, matching the two sounds "a" and "hūm".

Source: Wikipedia, Nio (Buddhism).

The wrathful protectors of Tibet

DharmapālaHow to recognize: A dark body, a fierce face, surrounded by flames

The fierce form expresses readiness to protect practitioners, and they take a wrathful form only for the benefit of beings. Mahākāla is the best known.

Source: Wikipedia, Dharmapala.

Disciples, Arhats and patriarchs

Mahakashyapa and Ananda

Mahākāśyapa · ĀnandaHow to recognize: Two monks standing on either side of Shakyamuni: Mahakashyapa with an old face, Ananda with a young face

An arrangement of Mahayana temples. In northern Vietnam this group is called Niêm Hoa (Holding the Flower): Shakyamuni holds a lotus, flanked by Mahakashyapa and Ananda. The group tells the story of the Buddha holding up a flower on Vulture Peak, when only Mahakashyapa smiled, and so Mahakashyapa is regarded as the first patriarch of Zen in India.

Source: Wikipedia, Mahavira Hall. Dr. Lê Tâm Đắc (Institute for Religious Studies), Bàn về đối tượng thờ trong các ngôi chùa Việt ở miền Bắc (On the objects of worship in Vietnamese temples of the north).

Sariputta and Moggallana

Sāriputta · MoggallānaHow to recognize: Two monks with joined palms on either side of the Buddha

An arrangement of Theravada temples. The two are the chief disciples. According to the Elder Nyanaponika, Sariputta stands on the Buddha's right and Moggallana on his left, and many temples in Sri Lanka have statues of the two on either side of the Buddha.

Source: Nyanaponika Thera, The Life of Sariputta, Buddhist Publication Society.

Arhats

Arhat · 羅漢How to recognize: Monks each in a different pose, seated on rocks or tree stumps

The scriptures speak of sixteen. In China, from the late Tang dynasty two were added to make the Eighteen Arhats, while Japan kept sixteen. In Vietnamese temples, the Arhat statues, sixteen or eighteen of them, are usually venerated in the two corridors on either side of the temple.

Source: Wikipedia, Eighteen Arhats. Dr. Lê Tâm Đắc (Institute for Religious Studies), Bàn về đối tượng thờ trong các ngôi chùa Việt ở miền Bắc (On the objects of worship in Vietnamese temples of the north). Phật tử Việt Nam, Cách bố trí tượng thờ trong chùa miền Bắc (How statues are arranged in northern temples), 01/11/2007.

The statues of chùa Tây Phương: Arhats or patriarchs

How to recognize: More than ten statues in lacquered and gilded jackfruit wood, late 18th century

The press, the website of the Department of Cultural Heritage and a poem by Huy Cận call them Arhats. Another reading holds that they are the Indian patriarchs of Zen. A name board placed in front of one statue in the temple, photographed in 2023, reads "Tổ Phật Đà Mật Đa" (the Patriarch Buddhamitra). The library gives both names. The Tây Sơn era set of Buddhist statues of chùa Tây Phương has been a national treasure since 2015.

Source: Department of Cultural Heritage (Vietnam), Di tích kiến trúc nghệ thuật chùa Tây Phương (The architectural and artistic monument of chùa Tây Phương). Vietnamese Wikipedia, Chùa Tây Phương. Tuổi Trẻ News, Vietnam names another 12 items national treasures. Văn Hóa newspaper, Chùa Tây Phương là điểm du lịch di tích quốc gia đặc biệt (Chùa Tây Phương as a tourist site and special national monument).

Bodhidharma

Bodhidharma · DarumaHow to recognize: A thick beard, large eyes, the look of a foreigner, sometimes carrying one sandal

The first patriarch of Zen in China. In northern Vietnam he is called Đức Tổ Tây (the Western Patriarch) and appears on the altar of almost every patriarchs' hall.

Source: Wikipedia, Bodhidharma. Dr. Lê Tâm Đắc (Institute for Religious Studies), Bàn về đối tượng thờ trong các ngôi chùa Việt ở miền Bắc (On the objects of worship in Vietnamese temples of the north). Phật tử Việt Nam, Cách bố trí tượng thờ trong chùa miền Bắc (How statues are arranged in northern temples), 01/11/2007.

Padmasambhava and Tsongkhapa

Padmasambhava · TsongkhapaHow to recognize: Padmasambhava holds a vajra and a skull cup. Tsongkhapa wears a yellow hat

Two great teachers of Tibetan Buddhism. Padmasambhava is the 8th-century teacher associated with the founding of Samye monastery, the central figure of the Nyingma school. Tsongkhapa (about 1357 to 1419) founded the Gelug school.

Source: Wikipedia, Padmasambhava. Wikipedia, Je Tsongkhapa.

VIIHow the altar is arranged

Temples of northern Vietnam

The Buddha hall of a northern temple has several tiers of platforms. The highest tier is at the very back, close to the roof, and the following tiers step down toward the front, ending with the incense table. Every source stresses that the order is not fixed and that each temple arranges its statues in its own way. The diagram below shows the points on which the sources agree.

The library drew this diagram as a summary. It is not the plan of any particular temple. Four sources place the Amitabha Triad on the second tier. Dr. Lê Tâm Đắc places the Shakyamuni teaching group on "the third or second tier". For the statues standing beside the Nine Dragon Seat, some sources give Indra and Brahma, others the Jade Emperor with Nam Tào and Bắc Đẩu (the Taoist stars of the South and North).

Besides the Buddha hall, a northern temple has the two guardians in the front hall, the altar of Đức Ông (whom many sources identify as the elder Anathapindika, who donated the Jeta Grove), the altar of the Holy Monk, eight Vajra guardians on the two sides in large temples, the Ten Kings of Hell in some temples, and the patriarchs' hall at the back, where Bodhidharma and former abbots are venerated. Most northern temples have a shrine to the Mother Goddesses. Lê Tâm Đắc reads this arrangement as a blend of Zen, Pure Land and Esoteric Buddhism with indigenous beliefs.

Central and southern Vietnam, the Khất Sĩ sangha and Khmer Theravada

Temples in central and southern Vietnam are arranged more simply: the main image is usually a single Shakyamuni or the triad of the Three Sages of the West. Temples in Huế usually follow the pattern of Buddha in front and patriarchs behind. The tịnh xá (monasteries) of the Khất Sĩ (mendicant) sangha have an octagonal main hall, with the Buddha statue placed inside a thirteen-storey wooden tower in the centre. Khmer Theravada temples in southern Vietnam venerate only Shakyamuni Buddha, their main hall faces east, and the Buddha's life is told in paintings on the walls and ceiling. On a Khmer altar there are often many Shakyamuni statues, large and small, in different postures.

Other traditions

Theravada temples (Thailand, Sri Lanka, Myanmar)

How to recognize: One main statue of Shakyamuni Buddha, possibly flanked by the two chief disciples

In a Thai temple the ubosot, where ordinations take place, is the most sacred building, and the wihan is where the assembly gathers. Both house Buddha statues.

Source: Wikipedia, Wat. Nyanaponika Thera, The Life of Sariputta, Buddhist Publication Society.

Chinese temples

How to recognize: From the gate inward: the Hall of the Heavenly Kings, then the Mahavira Hall

In the Hall of the Heavenly Kings, the Budai Maitreya sits facing the gate with Skanda standing behind him. In the Mahavira Hall, the most common arrangement is Shakyamuni with Mahakashyapa and Ananda, or three Buddhas: Shakyamuni in the middle with Amitabha and the Medicine Buddha on either side. The two side walls usually carry the Eighteen Arhats.

Source: Wikipedia, Hall of Four Heavenly Kings. Wikipedia, Mahavira Hall.

Japanese temples

How to recognize: The principal image (honzon) differs from school to school

Jōdo Shinshū venerates only Amida, as a statue, a painting or a calligraphy of his name. Shingon places Dainichi Nyorai at the centre of its teaching and hangs two mandalas facing each other. Zen venerates Shakyamuni. The Nichiren schools venerate the Gohonzon, a mandala written in characters, which Nichiren first inscribed in the years 1271 to 1274. Some Nichiren communities do not approve of reproducing the Gohonzon, so the library does not publish a photo of it.

Source: Wikipedia, Honzon. Buddhist Churches of America, Naijin (a guide to the inner sanctuary of Jōdo Shinshū). Wikipedia, Shingon Buddhism. JAANUS, Ryoukai mandara. Sōtōshū, Butsudan. Wikipedia, Gohonzon.

Tibetan shrines

How to recognize: Statue, scripture and stupa on the same altar, with seven water bowls in front

The altar represents the body, speech and mind of the Buddha: the statue is the body, the scripture the speech, the stupa the mind. The seven water bowls are set in a straight line, close together but not touching. The butter lamp stands for wisdom dispelling ignorance. The main image may be a thangka instead of a statue.

Source: Interview with the Venerable Tenzin Yignyen, Tibetan Altars, Snow Lion. Museum of International Folk Art, The Tibetan Buddhist Altar.

The home Buddha altar of Vietnamese Buddhists

The Venerable Thích Phước Thái wrote on the Buddhist information portal that the patriarchs advised that one Buddha statue or one Bodhisattva statue at home is enough, because with one statue the mind settles more easily. Pure Land practitioners who wish to have the full set venerate Amitabha with Avalokiteshvara and Mahasthamaprapta. The advisory team of Giác Ngộ newspaper sets no number, and notes that the saying "too many statues upset the balance" comes from feng shui, not from the Buddha's teaching. On venerating the Buddha together with the ancestors, Giác Ngộ gives two patterns: tiền Phật hậu linh (Buddha in front, ancestors behind) and thượng Phật hạ linh (Buddha above, ancestors below), with the ancestors' altar one step lower than the Buddha altar.

VIIIBuddha statues country by country

The same Buddha is carved in each land with its own faces and materials. Each country below has a few lines on its style and one to four photos of representative objects. Many countries are still missing, and the library will add them over time.

India

The land where the image of the Buddha was born. After Mathura and the Gupta period, the Ajanta caves (with new caves cut in the 5th to 6th centuries) preserve paintings and sculpture that UNESCO calls masterpieces of Buddhist art. In the sanctum of the Mahabodhi Temple at Bodh Gaya is a gilded Buddha statue in the earth-touching mudra.

Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art, Buddhism and Buddhist Art. UNESCO, Ajanta Caves. UNESCO, Mahabodhi Temple Complex at Bodh Gaya.

Pakistan and Afghanistan

The old land of Gandhara. At Bamiyan (Afghanistan) there once stood two Buddha statues carved into the cliff, 55 metres and 38 metres tall, covered with plaster and painted, from about the 6th to 7th centuries. Neither has survived since March 2001.

Source: Britannica, Gandhara art. UNESCO, Bamiyan Valley. Smarthistory, Bamiyan Buddhas.

Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan Buddha statues are calm, almost without ornament, and favour the meditation posture. The Samadhi statue at Anuradhapura is about 2.2 metres tall, and its date is given as about the 4th to 6th centuries. Avukana is a standing statue carved into the rock, nearly 12 metres tall, dated by some sources to the 5th century and by others to the 8th. Gal Vihara at Polonnaruwa has four statues carved on one rock face, made under King Parakramabahu I in the 12th century.

Source: UNESCO, Sacred City of Anuradhapura. UNESCO, Ancient City of Polonnaruwa. Wikipedia, Samadhi Statue. Wikipedia, Avukana Buddha statue. Wikipedia, Gal Vihara.

Myanmar

Bagan (11th to 13th centuries) is the classical period, and UNESCO records 3,595 monuments. The earth-touching mudra is the most common gesture. From about the 17th century there is the Mandalay style, often carved in marble, which still fills most Burmese altars today. The Mahamuni statue in Mandalay was brought from Arakan in 1784.

Source: UNESCO, Bagan. Britannica, Southeast Asian arts: Burma. Wikipedia, Mahamuni Buddha Temple. Sahapedia, Infinite Wisdom: Buddhas of the Ananda Temple.

Thailand

The Mon of Dvaravati (6th to 11th centuries) made the first large series of Buddha statues. Sukhothai (13th to 14th centuries) created the familiar Thai Buddha: an oval face, long smooth limbs, a robe with almost no folds, and a flame above the ushnisha, a feature learned from Sri Lanka. The Emerald Buddha in Bangkok is carved from green jade, was first recorded in the 15th century at Chiang Rai, and has its costume changed each year for the three seasons.

Source: Britannica, Southeast Asian arts: Thailand and Laos. UNESCO, Historic Town of Sukhothai. Britannica, Sukhothai style. Wikipedia, Phra Phuttha Chinnarat. Britannica, Emerald Buddha.

Laos

Lao statues belong to the same family as Sukhothai but have their own features: an egg-shaped head, eyebrows curved like a bow, a hooked nose and very long earlobes. The "calling for rain" posture, with both arms hanging straight along the body, is typical of Laos and northern Thailand. The city of Luang Prabang takes its name from the Phra Bang statue.

Source: Northern Illinois University, Treasures of Luang Prabang: Buddha images. Ferenc Hopp Museum of Asiatic Arts (Budapest), Buddha in calling for rain mudra. UNESCO, Town of Luang Prabang. Wikipedia, Phra Bang.

Cambodia

The distinctive Khmer image of the Buddha shows him meditating on the coils of the serpent king Mucalinda, with seven serpent heads spread behind him. The Metropolitan Museum notes that the subject existed earlier, but that the Khmer made it popular, especially under King Jayavarman VII (reigned 1181 to 1218).

Source: UNESCO, Angkor. Metropolitan Museum of Art, Buddha Sheltered by a Naga.

Indonesia

Borobudur in Java (8th to 9th centuries) has 72 openwork stupas on its circular terraces, each containing a seated Buddha. The nearby Mendut temple has a Buddha seated with legs pendant, about 3 metres tall, between two Bodhisattvas. The maritime kingdom of Srivijaya left many bronze statues of the Buddha and of Avalokiteshvara.

Source: UNESCO, Borobudur Temple Compounds. Britannica, Borobudur. Britannica, Southeast Asian arts: Indonesia.

Vietnam

Vietnam has three streams of Buddha statues. In the Mekong Delta, the Óc Eo culture left standing Buddhas carved from a single tree trunk. In the centre, Champa cast bronze statues around the Buddhist monastery of Đồng Dương (9th to 10th centuries). In the north, Đại Việt has the stone Amitabha of the Lý dynasty and the lacquered and gilded jackfruit wood statues of the 17th to 18th centuries at Bút Tháp and Tây Phương.

Source: Pháp Luật Việt Nam newspaper, Tượng gỗ Phật Thích Ca Mâu Ni 1.500 tuổi (A 1,500-year-old wooden Shakyamuni statue). VnExpress, Những bảo vật quốc gia (National treasures). Thanh Tra newspaper, Bảo vật quốc gia 1.200 tuổi ở Sài Gòn (A 1,200-year-old national treasure in Saigon). Tiền Phong newspaper, Giải mã bảo vật quốc gia (Decoding national treasures). Thanh Tra newspaper, Nơi lưu giữ 4 bảo vật quốc gia (The place that keeps 4 national treasures). Văn Hóa newspaper, Chùa Tây Phương là điểm du lịch di tích quốc gia đặc biệt (Chùa Tây Phương as a tourist site and special national monument).

China

Chinese Buddha statues can be followed through the cave temple complexes. Yungang (from about 460, Northern Wei) has five early caves founded by the monk Tanyao, with statues up to about 17 metres tall. Longmen has the Great Vairocana Buddha of the Fengxian niche. Dunhuang (Mogao) has more than two thousand painted clay statues. The Leshan Giant Buddha is 71 metres tall.

Source: UNESCO, Yungang Grottoes. Britannica, Yungang caves. UNESCO, Longmen Grottoes. UNESCO, Mogao Caves. UNESCO, Mount Emei and Leshan Giant Buddha.

South Korea

Two representative works: the gilt bronze pensive Bodhisattvas (6th to 7th centuries), and Seokguram near Gyeongju, 8th century, where a white granite Buddha about 3.5 metres tall sits in the earth-touching mudra, facing the sea.

Source: UNESCO, Seokguram Grotto and Bulguksa Temple. Britannica, Sokkuram. Metropolitan Museum of Art, Pensive Treasure.

Japan

The Shakyamuni triad in the Golden Hall of Hōryū-ji (623), by Tori Busshi, is a bronze in the Northern Wei manner. The Nara court cast the Great Buddha of Tōdai-ji. In the Heian period, Jōchō created the classic Japanese Buddha type with the Amida of Byōdō-in (1053), assembled from many hollow wooden blocks. The Great Buddha of Kamakura has sat in the open air since its hall was damaged twice by storms in the 14th century and then swept away by a tsunami in 1498.

Source: UNESCO, Buddhist Monuments in the Horyu-ji Area. Britannica, Tori style. Smarthistory, Tōdai-ji. Tōdai-ji temple, the Great Buddha Hall. Byōdō-in temple, the Amida statue by Jōchō. Kōtoku-in temple, introduction to the Great Buddha of Kamakura. Wikipedia, Kōtoku-in.

Tibet

The most sacred statue is the Jowo Shakyamuni in the Jokhang temple in Lhasa: the Buddha wears not a monk's robe but a crown and royal jewellery. Tradition holds that a Chinese princess brought the statue to Lhasa in 641. Scholars still discuss the statue's actual date. Tibetan sacred images also include thangkas, scroll paintings on cloth painted according to fixed canonical proportions.

Source: Rubin Museum of Art, Jowo Shakyamuni of the Jokhang. UNESCO, Historic Ensemble of the Potala Palace, Lhasa. Metropolitan Museum of Art, Tibetan Buddhist Art. Britannica, thang-ka.

Nepal, Bhutan and Mongolia

Newar craftsmen of the Kathmandu valley made heavily gilded copper statues with broad faces and long eyes, and worked for both Tibet and China. In Mongolia, Zanabazar (1635 to 1723), the first Jebtsundamba, was also a sculptor whom one source calls the Mongolian Michelangelo. The library so far has only one photo of a Bhutanese thangka and no written source on Bhutanese sacred images.

Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art, Nepalese Sculpture. Rubin Museum of Art, Maitreya by Zanabazar. University of Washington, Silk Road Seattle, Zanabazar.

The Silk Road

The oasis kingdoms of the Tarim Basin carried the image of the Buddha from Gandhara to China. Kizil near Kucha has 236 caves cut from about the 3rd to the 8th centuries. Khotan made statues mainly in clay.

Source: Wikipedia, Kizil Caves. Encyclopaedia Iranica, Khotan: Khotanese art.

IXWhat the library is not sure of

XPhotos and licences

Every photo on this page comes from Wikimedia Commons, under Public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA licences. Authors and licences are given exactly as on the original file pages, read on 07/10/2026. The photos have only been reduced in size, with no change to their content. Click the name of a photo to go to its original file page. If you are an author and see an incorrect credit, please let the library know so it can be corrected.

XISources

The pages above were read in October 2026. If a page has changed its address, please let the library know so it can be updated.

?Quick Questions

›Read Next