What is the mystery of Buddha's hairstyle? (5 photos)

One of the most interesting personalities of antiquity is the Indian prince Siddhartha Gautama, who later became known as Shakyamuni Buddha, or simply Buddha, the founder of Buddhism. He was born around 563 BC, and not a single lifetime image of this man has reached us.





However, numerous images of Buddha - icons and statues - can be found all over the world: in India, China, Japan. Buddhists all over the world consider Buddha the greatest spiritual teacher, prophet, “enlightened one” - but not at all a god, as some people think. However, today we want to talk not about Buddha, but about his... hairstyle! Yes, yes, about the hairstyle!

You've probably seen Buddhist monks - at least on TV - in their distinctive orange robes and shaved heads. Shaving the head for a Buddhist monk is the most important ritual, symbolizing cleansing from earthly passions. According to legend, Buddha himself was the first to set an example of this - when he began his sermon, he shaved his head bald.



Numerous legends recorded in books confirm this. For example, Indian Brahmin priests despised Buddha and his disciples, since for Brahmins hair is one of the signs of communication with higher powers (therefore, Brahmins never cut their hair at all). There are many legends that it was impossible to recognize Buddha among his disciples - since he, like everyone else, wore orange clothes and was shaved.





But let's look at the images of Shakyamuni Buddha and be surprised - because everywhere he is depicted with hair! He has long curly hair, gathered at the top of his head in a rather large bun, and on painted statues and icons it is always black... Look at the statues of Buddha - everywhere he is depicted with hair, and nowhere - shaved bald! How so? The books say that Buddha shaved his hair, and the pictures say that he wore a hairstyle!

Later Buddhist books say that the “bun” on the Buddha’s head is not a bunch of hair at all, but an “ushnisha”, “a lock of enlightenment”, “the upper chakra”, one of the 32 signs of a “supreme being”, a kind of bump on the head. The hair covering the Buddha's head is also not hair at all, but... snails!



According to legend, one day Buddha was out for a walk early in the morning, thinking deeply, sitting under a tree and meditating. For long hours he sat motionless, absorbed in himself; The sun rose, it became unbearably hot - but the great teacher continued to meditate. Then hundreds of snails crawled out from under the leaves that had fallen to the ground, climbed up the Buddha’s shaved head along his clothes and remained there to protect him from the scorching Sun.