Urna — Mediated Wiki

{{Short description|Spiral or circular dot placed on the forehead of Buddhist images}} {{other uses}} [[file:Face of the Amida Buddha Statue at Kōtoku-in.jpg|thumb|The urna on the Amitābha Great Buddha of Kamakura.]] {{Buddhist term | fontsize=100% | title=Urna |pi=उण्ण |pi-Latn=uṇṇa |sa=ऊर्णा |sa-Latn=ūrṇā |zh=白毫 |zh-Latn=Báiháo |ja=白毫 |ja-Latn=byakugō |ko=백호 |ko-Latn=baekho |th= |th-Latn = |bo=མཛོད་སྦུས་ |bo-Latn=Wylie: mdzod spu |vi=Bạch mao tướng }}

In Buddhist art and culture, the '''Urna''' (Sanskrit: ūrṇā, ūrṇākeśa or ūrṇākośa, lit. "hair treasure")<ref name=":0">{{cite book|editor1-last=Buswell |editor1-first=Robert Jr|editor2-last=Lopez|editor2-first=Donald S. Jr.|editor1-link=Robert Buswell Jr.|editor2-link=Donald S. Lopez, Jr. |title=ūrṇākeśa, in: a Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism|date=2013|publisher=Princeton University Press|location=Princeton, NJ |isbn=9780691157863}}</ref><ref name="asianart">{{cite web |title=The Lost Buddhas: Chinese Buddhist Sculpture from Qingzhou |url=http://www.asianartnewspaper.com/article/lost-buddhas-chinese-buddhist-sculpture-qingzhou|publisher=Asian Art|date=April 14, 2012|access-date=April 12, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150624115810/http://asianartnewspaper.com/article/lost-buddhas-chinese-buddhist-sculpture-qingzhou|archive-date=June 24, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> is a spiral or circular mark placed on the forehead of Buddhist images as an auspicious sign.<ref name="asianart"/><ref>{{cite book|last=Stratton |first=Carol |title=Buddhist Sculpture of Northern Thailand |publisher=Serindia Publications|year=2004|page=50 |ISBN=9781932476095}}</ref>

As set out in the ''Lakkhana Sutta'' (''Discourse on Marks''), the ūrṇā is the thirty-first physical characteristic of the Buddha.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Holt|first1=John Clifford|last2=Kinnard |first2=Jacob N.|last3=Walters |first3=Jonathan S.|title=Constituting Communities: Theravada Buddhism and the Religious Cultures of South and Southeast Asia|publisher=SUNY Press|year=2012|page=191 |ISBN=9780791487051}}</ref>

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.<ref name=":0" /> This light became an object of meditation in Mahayana Buddhism.<ref name=":8">Rhodes, Robert. (2007). [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237261548_Ojoyoshu_Nihon_Ojo_Gokuraku-ki_and_the_Construction_of_Pure_Land_Discourse_in_Heian_Japan 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.</ref>

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.<ref name=":0" />

==Gallery== <gallery> File:Buddha Victoria & Albert.jpg|Buddha with urna depicted as a circular dot File:Bangkok National Museum - 2017-04-22 (026).jpg|Buddha sculpture found within the vihāra of Wat Phra Si Sanphet, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Province, Thailand, 16th century CE File:Khmer Sacred Symbol, Om or Unalom.png|The unalome ({{Lang|th|อุณาโลม}}) yantra is a stylised representation of the urna. </gallery>

==References== {{reflist}}

Category:Buddhist art Category:Buddhist symbols Category:Buddhas