Why is the buddha always portrayed as a fat man?

why is Jesus portrayed as a european white man?

how exactly is a rainbow made?

it just is....

well, I know the answer to that rainbow question...

Big soul, big body...blame it on artistic interpretation.

Buddha {Siddhartha Gautama....had to look that up, my initial guess at his real name was way, way off} was tall with an athletic build.

artistic interpretation... good point.

But as far as his name goes, it may well be the actual name he bore. He was born a prince, after all, and even in those times I think records were kept on royal families... But I am not sure.

All of the Buddhist icons that I know of, and I've seen a whole lot, dipict the Buddha is thin, not fat. What you are referring to are statues of Ho-Tai, sometimes called the Laughing Buddha. Ho-Tai was a Chan monk who lived in Southern China around the 9th century CE. He worked in a monastery kitchens and loved his food and was always happy with his menial tasks. Ho-Tai probably would have been totally forgotten, but for his habit of visiting local villages to distribute sweets to the children and poor. Ho-Tai could produce a toy for a sullen child, or bring a bowl of sweetened rice to the impoverished. Ho-Tai was a local legend, and after his death his fame spread widely across China. The interesting thing is that Ho-Tai is regarded by many Buddhists as a Bodhisatva (not a Buddha), but he was elevated to divinity by the Taoists. By the time Westerners came into China, Ho-Tai was the God of Good Luck and Laughter. He was the "patron saint" of children, somewhat like Santa Claus. Small statues of Ho-Tai found their way into Western collections and were often mistakenly identified as statures of the Buddha. Oh well, that was neither the first nor last mistaken impression the WEst has adopted regardeing Asia and Asian religions.

Buddhism had virtually no iconography for litterly hundreds of years after the Great Decease. Virtually the only Buddhist symbol was the Eight Spoked Wheel associated with the Eight Fold Path. There were no Buddhist Temples, but there were Buddhist monasteries across northern India. Monks tended to be homeless wanderers wearing tattered robes of saffron color, the color designated for outcasts. They owned nothing but their sandals and a begging bowl. They ate only what they could beg, and spend most of their time either teaching others about Buddhism, or arguing with one another over the meaning of various Buddhist doctrines. It was a life that held little appeal for most people, but the religion had quite a bit of impact on the People. Out of those early centuries, Buddhism underwent a schism. The more conservative Buddhist monks become known as the Hinayana, and the splinter called themselves Mahayana, or Great Vessel.

The Mahayana held that those becoming Buddha (Enlightened) would, out of compassion for the sufferings of those not yet ready for full enlightenment, defer their own ego extinction and would share their merit with the less fortunate. This played well with lay people bound to daily existence by families and the need to participate in activities. No longer did Buddhists have to leave family and career behind to lead a life of abject poverty and homelessness. The idea caught on like wild fire, and soon Buddhism was spreading across Asia. In the West Buddhists came into contact with Classical Greek culture, and statues of the Buddha in various incarnations began to appear. Buddhist statuary still retains many features linked to the Greeks. Buddhism then moved along the Silk Road, through the Taklamakan Desert, to the western borders of China. China welcomed Buddhism, though they believed that Buddhism was merely the "mature" expression of Lao-Tse's Taoism.

North, at the roof of the world, Buddhism amalgamated with the pre-existing Bo, or Bon-pa, religion that was filled with good and evil spirits associated with nature. The leading missionary there was Milrepa, and the Tantric Buddhist forms of Tibet and Nepal were born. Hinayana had already spread eastward along the Southeast Asian shores, and remains today an important aspect of Buddhism in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Ceylon, Vietnam, etc. Following that route Bohidarma arrived in Southern China and set about teaching what became Chan, or in Japanese is called Zen. Ho-Tai was a Chan monk by the way.

Hopefully that will help answer your question. If you need any thing further, just ask ... or read any of the many Buddhist threads on this forum. Ta!

Thanks Asherman.

That does answer my question. The reason I asked in the first place was that my girlfriend bought a small statue of the Laughing buddha. He is depicted with a fat round belly. In his left hand he holds a bowl, and in the other something that seems to be some sort of childs toy.

The person who sold it to her said it was the buddha, but now I can tell her that it is Ho-Tai.

Thanks a lot.

He isn't:



Buddha images




































See how different they are?

they do all seem slightly different maybe buddha has helpers... you know, like Santa.

Siddhartha was almost certainly the son of a minor "prince" in North-eastern India. The birth name was Siddhartha Shakimuni, but there are dozens of other "names/titles" that refer to the same person. He became dissatisfied with the suffering that humans are heir to, and left his privileged life to become a wandering Sadu. After many years and becoming an adept at many of the disciplines of those wandering philosophers, Siddharta still had found no definitive answers regarding the causes of suffering and how to overcome it. He sat down and swore not to move from his meditation until he died, or solved the problem. He had a transcendental experience, and left the hermit's life to return to civilization. He first preached in a deer park on the estate of a wealthy man near Benares , India. The newly Enlightened (Buddha) was a sensation and huge crowds gathered to hear him expound and answer questions about his discovery. The Buddha wandered over much of northern India and was soon followed by a growing number of disciples who probably wrote at least some of the scriptures in Pali that are still central to Hinayana Buddhism. At the end of his life, he gathered his closest disciples around him and announced that he was going to die. "Do you have any further questions", he is said to have asked. In response to the question if there was anything essential to be taught about Enlightenment, the Buddha held up a single flower, and ... died.

There are a lot of legends surrounding the Buddha, but most of them date from a time long after his death. There was a wondrous birth attended by miracles and prophesies. One of the prophesies was that he would either rule a mighty kingdom, or he would found a religion. He is said to have been born already able to walk and talk. He probably was married, and is said to have had at least one son. Legend has it that he was shielded from the common suffering during his childhood, but that as a young man he slipped his watchers and discovered sickness, aging and death were the common lot of humanity. He is said to have taken leave of his family and rode a magnificent horse into the forest to join the hermit like philosophers who lived there in search of answers.

The legends are sometimes extravagant, but most scholars of early Buddhism tend to believe that the fundamentals of these stories are based on mundane fact.

Not a bad selection of Buddhist images.

In Buddhist iconography the intent is not to capture a "person", but to teach some of the doctrines to illiterate monks and lay people.

The hand gestures are called Mudras, and each of them has very particular meanings. Mudreas can be simple, or very complex. An example of a simple Mudra is pointing to the sky with one hand and the earth with the other. This indicates that the Buddhist doctrine is everywhere the same. The outstretched palm is indicative of giving; The Buddha giving the doctrine to mankind, the Bodhisatva's gift of merit, and the Buddhist layman's injunction to provide for the poor. Mudras are also used as part of some Buddhist rituals. Though the Mudras have individual meanings, in rituals the monks gestures will flow from one to another with ease and grace.

Buddhist statues often show large ears, with heavy gold earrings. Large ears, especially the ear lobes are symbolic of wisdom, and the earrings denote the Princely stature of the Buddha.

The Top-Knot, or bulge at the crown of the head is another symbol of the greater than ordinary knowledge and wisdom ready to break forth into Enlightenment.

The eyes are half lidded and are intended to convey relaxed attention that sees everything and is unmoved by it. The simi-smile is knowing and tells the viewer that suffering can be conquered.

Etc., etc.

BTW, most of the images shown above are from southern Asia.

Easy answer. The question includes a false premise. The Buddha (Sakaymuni) is NEVER portrayed as a fat man. He is portrayed as being perfectly proportioned. You are asking about images that are not of the Buddha.

There are actually many depictions of Buddha, but very rare as they depict rejected states.
There are rare anorextic statues from his time in starvation to enlightmen, but famously the string player on the river would divert him from that. He might have gone to the opposit by being obese.

If you had bothered reading some of the thread before posting you would find out that this was sorted a long time ago...

I tryed, but didn't find 1 answer as mine, maybe I missed just that line.

Recessive genes?

Hi Asherman, I hate to rain on your parade, but your intelligent and well researched history of Buddha is infact only but one interpretation of it. I also thought that those images of Buddha are cool, as indeed I myself once had one of Buddha holding some rats eating each other in one hand, and the upwards turned half open hand gesture with the other. This was clearly 'A Buddha', from her grandeur, sitting in the lotus position (the classic Buddhist poise), with her simple robe and gentle smile. But this was more then just an iconograph of a long dead semi-historical figure. This was a God. Something which dates from a long time ago, and clearly exceeds all of our crude and rudimentary poor stories of the man Boddhisatva. Infact, or so legend has it, the Buddha doesn't refer to just one man, but a God which is reborn every thousand years ago. Along these lines it is very possible that these images of Buddha infact refer to the 'enlightened one' from lifetimes/lines before the one which is told to us now commonly accepted as fact. Food for thought?