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Concept
Buddha footprint
Summary
Buddha's footprints (Sanskrit: ) are Buddhist icons shaped like an imprint of Gautama Buddha's foot or both feet. There are two forms: natural, as found in stone or rock, and those made artificially. Many of the "natural" ones are acknowledged not to be genuine footprints of the Buddha, but rather replicas or representations of them, which can be considered cetiya (Buddhist relics) and also an early aniconic and symbolic representation of the Buddha.
Footprints of the Buddha abound throughout Asia, dating from various periods. Japanese author Motoji Niwa, who spent years tracking down the footprints in many Asian countries, estimates that he found more than 3,000 such footprints, among them about 300 in Japan and more than 1,000 in Sri Lanka. They often bear distinguishing marks, such as a Dharmachakra at the centre of the sole, or the 32, 108 or 132 auspicious signs of the Buddha, engraved or painted on the sole.
A depression atop Sri padaya in Sri Lanka is among the largest and most famous footprints. Buddhist legend holds that during his lifetime the Buddha flew to Sri Lanka and left his footprint on Sri padaya to indicate the importance of Sri Lanka as the perpetuator of his teachings, and also left footprints in all lands where his teachings would be acknowledged. In Thailand, the most important of these "natural" footprints embedded in rock is at Phra Phutthabat in central Thailand. In China, during the Tang dynasty, the discovery of a large footprint of the Buddha in Chengzhou caused Empress Wu Zetian to inaugurate a new reign name in that year, 701 CE, starting the Dazu (Big Foot) era.
The footprint as a sculptural object has a long history stemming from the first examples made in India. These were made during the pre-Greco-Buddhist phase of Buddhist art at Sanchi, Bharhut, and other places in India, along with the Bo-Tree and the Dharmachakra. Later, the footprint-making tradition became prominent in Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Burma, and Thailand.
Official source
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