Religion:Urna
In Buddhist art and culture, the Urna (Sanskrit: ūrṇā, ūrṇākeśa or ūrṇākośa, lit. "hair treasure")[1][2] is a spiral or circular mark placed on the forehead of Buddhist images as an auspicious sign.[2][3]
As set out in the Lakkhana Sutta (Discourse on Marks), the ūrṇā is the thirty-first physical characteristic of the Buddha.[4]
The urna is generally interpreted as a whorl of white hair which is a marks a Buddha as a great being (mahāpuruṣa). In the Mahayana Sutras, the Buddha is often depicted as shining light out of his urna to illuminate distant world systems.[1] This light became an object of meditation in Mahayana Buddhism.[5]
The urna is often seen on Buddhist sculptures from the 2nd century CE onwards. The urna remains part of standard Buddhist iconography today, often depicted as a gem placed slightly above and between the eyebrows of a Buddha or a bodhisattva.[1]
Gallery
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Buddha with urna depicted as a circular dot -
Buddha sculpture found within the vihāra of Wat Phra Si Sanphet, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Province, Thailand, 16th century CE -
The unalome (อุณาโลม) yantra is a stylised representation of the urna.
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See also
- Ājñā
- Bindi (decoration)
- Bindu (symbol)
- Yantra tattooing
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Buswell, Robert Jr; Lopez, Donald S. Jr., eds (2013). ūrṇākeśa, in: a Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691157863.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "The Lost Buddhas: Chinese Buddhist Sculpture from Qingzhou". Asian Art. April 14, 2012. http://www.asianartnewspaper.com/article/lost-buddhas-chinese-buddhist-sculpture-qingzhou.
- ↑ Stratton, Carol (2004). Buddhist Sculpture of Northern Thailand. Serindia Publications. p. 50. ISBN 9781932476095.
- ↑ Holt, John Clifford; Kinnard, Jacob N.; Walters, Jonathan S. (2012). Constituting Communities: Theravada Buddhism and the Religious Cultures of South and Southeast Asia. SUNY Press. p. 191. ISBN 9780791487051.
- ↑ Rhodes, Robert. (2007). Ōjōyōshū, Nihon Ōjō Gokuraku-ki, and the Construction of Pure Land Discourse in Heian Japan. Japanese Journal of Religious Studies. 34. 10.18874/jjrs.34.2.2007.249-270.
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