Urna

In Buddhist art and culture, the Urna (Sanskrit: ūrṇā, ūrṇākeśa or ūrṇākośa, lit. "hair treasure") is a spiral or circular mark placed on the forehead of Buddhist images as an auspicious sign.

As set out in the Lakkhana Sutta (Discourse on Marks), the ūrṇā is the thirty-first physical characteristic of the Buddha.

The urna is generally interpreted as a whorl of white hair which 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. This light became an object of meditation in Mahayana Buddhism.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.

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.

Gallery

See also Ājñā Bindi (decoration) Bindu (symbol) Yantra tattooing Paklei Namsa

References