Buddha footprints (buddhapada)

late 3rd–4th century CE
Not on view
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.
A symbol of the Buddha's presence, a stone slab depicting his footprints (buddhapada) was a regular feature of Buddhist monastic architecture in southern India. In a religious setting, reverence for the footprint alludes to a profound respect for higher knowledge-wisdom, witnessed by devotees prostrating themselves before the feet of a spiritual mentor. This buddhapada was excavated from a semicircular (apsidal) shrine at the Phanigiri monastery. It carries a one-line inscription that honors the donor’s gift and asserts his lineage. The footprints display numerous auspicious marks of a Great Man (mahapurusa), most prominently the Dharma-wheel on the soles of the feet.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Buddha footprints (buddhapada)
  • Period: Ikshvaku
  • Date: late 3rd–4th century CE
  • Culture: India, Phanigiri, Suryapet district, Telangana
  • Medium: Limestone
  • Dimensions: H. 16 in. (40.6 cm); W. 16 in. (40.6 cm); D. 6 in. (15.2 cm)
  • Classification: Sculpture
  • Credit Line: Lent by State Museum Hyderabad
  • Rights and Reproduction: Photo by Theirry Ollivier
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art

Audio

Cover Image for 674. Buddha footprints (Buddhapada)

674. Buddha footprints (Buddhapada)

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DONALD LOPEZ: What we’re looking at are footprints of the Buddha with those ten square toes at the bottom with the imprint of a wheel on the sole of his feet. Footprints of the Buddha are extremely important in the Buddhist world. Footprints are, from one perspective a sign of, of past presence. That is, someone was here in the past, and we know that because they left their footprints. But they’re also a sign of a present absence. That is, the person who has left the footprints is no longer there.

NARRATOR: How do we explain that omission?

DONALD LOPEZ: The Buddha probably passed away into Nirvana sometime around 400 BCE. And for the first few centuries of the depiction of the Buddha in Indian art, the Buddha himself was absent. We call this aniconism, the lack of icons. We don’t see the Buddha represented as we know him today for many centuries after his death. And so, when he was not depicted, he was often symbolized, and the symbol was typically the seat of enlightenment. Sometimes it was his footprints. Sometimes it was a stupa. Sometimes it was a wheel.

NARRATOR: On the back wall, you’ll see him represented by a flaming pillar. These footprints and other symbols meant to represent the Buddha and his presence are seen all over the world in places the historical Buddha never visited.

DONALD LOPEZ: And so, for a Buddhist to see the footprints of the Buddha, this is something that is revered, to know that he was there as a reminder of his presence. But also, to remember that he’s also now gone, that he’s now passed into Nirvana, and this is all that we have left.