Gautama Buddha

Seated Buddha from Tapa Shotor monastery in Hadda, Afghanistan, 2nd century CE

Ancient kingdoms and cities of India during the time of the Buddha (c. 500 BCE)

Inscription "The illumination of the Blessed Sakamuni" (Brahmi script: 𑀪𑀕𑀯𑀢𑁄 𑀲𑀓𑀫𑀼𑀦𑀺𑀦𑁄 𑀩𑁄𑀥𑁄, Bhagavato Sakamunino Bodho) on a relief showing the "empty" Illumination Throne of the Buddha in the early Mahabodhi Temple at Bodh Gaya. Bharhut, c. 100 BCE.

One of the earliest anthropomorphic representations of the Buddha, here surrounded by Brahma (left) and Śakra (right). Bimaran Casket, mid-1st century CE, British Museum.

Māyā miraculously giving birth to Siddhārtha. Sanskrit, palm-leaf manuscript. Nālandā, Bihar, India. Pāla period

The legendary Jataka collections depict the Buddha-to-be in a previous life prostrating before the past Buddha Dipankara, making a resolve to be a Buddha, and receiving a prediction of future Buddhahood.

Map showing Lumbini and other major Buddhist sites in India. Lumbini (present-day Nepal), is the birthplace of the Buddha, and is a holy place also for many non-Buddhists.

The Lumbini pillar contains an inscription stating that this is the Buddha's birthplace

The "Great Departure" of Siddhartha Gautama, surrounded by a halo, he is accompanied by numerous guards and devata who have come to pay homage; Gandhara, Kushan period

Prince Siddhartha shaves his hair and becomes a sramana. Borobudur, 8th century

The gilded "Emaciated Buddha statue" in Wat Suthat in Bangkok representing the stage of his asceticism

The Mahabodhi Tree at the Sri Mahabodhi Temple in Bodh Gaya

The Enlightenment Throne of the Buddha at Bodh Gaya, as recreated by Emperor Ashoka in the 3rd century BCE.

Miracle of the Buddha walking on the River Nairañjanā. The Buddha is not visible (aniconism), only represented by a path on the water, and his empty throne bottom right. Sanchi.

Dhamek Stupa in Sarnath, India, site of the first teaching of the Buddha in which he taught the Four Noble Truths to his first five disciples

The chief disciples of the Buddha, Mogallana (chief in psychic power) and Sariputta (chief in wisdom).

The remains of a section of Jetavana Monastery, just outside of ancient Savatthi, in Uttar Pradesh.

Mahāprajāpatī, the first bhikkuni and Buddha's stepmother, ordains

This East Javanese relief depicts the Buddha in his final days, and Ānanda, his chief attendant.

Mahaparinirvana, Gandhara, 3rd or 4th century CE, gray schist

Mahaparinibbana scene, from the Ajanta caves

Buddha's cremation stupa, Kushinagar (Kushinara).

Piprahwa vase with relics of the Buddha. The inscription reads: ...salilanidhane Budhasa Bhagavate... (Brahmi script: ...𑀲𑀮𑀺𑀮𑀦𑀺𑀥𑀸𑀦𑁂 𑀩𑀼𑀥𑀲 𑀪𑀕𑀯𑀢𑁂...) "Relics of the Buddha Lord".

The Bodhisattva meets with Alara Kalama, Borobudur relief.

Gandharan Buddhist birchbark scroll fragments

Buddha meets a Brahmin, at the Indian Museum, Kolkata

Schist Buddha statue with the famed Ye Dharma Hetu dhāraṇī around the head, which was used as a common summary of Dependent Origination. It states: "Of those experiences that arise from a cause, The Tathāgata has said: 'this is their cause, And this is their cessation': This is what the Great Śramaṇa teaches."

Gandharan sculpture depicting the Buddha in the full lotus seated meditation posture, 2nd-3rd century CE

Buddha Statues from Gal Vihara. The Early Buddhist texts also mention meditation practice while standing and lying down.

The Buddha on a coin of Kushan ruler Kanishka I, c. 130 CE.

Buddhist monks from Nepal. According to the earliest sources, the Buddha looked like a typical shaved man from northeast India.

A Royal Couple Visits the Buddha, from railing of the Bharhut Stupa, Shunga dynasty, early 2nd century BC.

Adoration of the Diamond Throne and the Bodhi Tree, Bharhut.

Descent of the Buddha from the Trayastrimsa Heaven, Sanchi Stupa No. 1.

The Buddha's Miracle at Kapilavastu, Sanchi Stupa 1.

Bimbisara visiting the Buddha (represented as empty throne) at the Bamboo garden in Rajagriha

The great departure with riderless horse, Amaravati, 2nd century CE.

The Assault of Mara, Amaravati, 2nd century CE.

Isapur Buddha, one of the earliest physical depictions of the Buddha, c. 15 CE.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Quintanilla |first1=Sonya Rhie |title=History of Early Stone Sculpture at Mathura: Ca. 150 BCE – 100 CE |date=2007 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=9789004155374 |pages=199–206, 204 for the exact date |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X7Cb8IkZVSMC&pg=PA204}}</ref> Art of Mathura

The Buddha attended by Indra at Indrasala Cave, Mathura 50-100 CE.

Buddha Preaching in Tushita Heaven. Amaravati, Satavahana period, 2d century CE. Indian Museum, Calcutta.

Gandharan Buddha with Vajrapani-Herakles.

Birth of the Buddha, Kushan dynasty, late 2nd to early 3rd century CE.

The Infant Buddha Taking A Bath, Gandhara 2nd century CE.

Sarnath standing Buddha, 5th century CE.

Chinese Stele with Sakyamuni and Bodhisattvas, Wei period, 536 CE.

The Shakyamuni Daibutsu Bronze, c. 609, Nara, Japan.

Amaravati style Buddha of Srivijaya period, Palembang, Indonesia, 7th century.

Korean Seokguram Cave Buddha, c. 774 CE.

Seated Buddha Vairocana flanked by Avalokiteshvara and Vajrapani of Mendut temple, Central Java, Indonesia, early 9th century.

Buddha in the exposed stupa of Borobudur mandala, Central Java, Indonesia, c. 825.

Vairocana Buddha of Srivijaya style, Southern Thailand, 9th century.

Seated Buddha, Japan, Heian period, 9th－10th century.

Cambodian Buddha with Mucalinda Nāga, c. 1100 CE, Banteay Chhmar, Cambodia

Sakyamuni, Lao Tzu, and Confucius, c. from 1368 until 1644.

Shakyamuni Buddha with Avadana Legend Scenes, Tibetan, 19th century

Gautama statue, Shanyuan Temple, Liaoning Province, China.

Burmese style Buddha, Shwedagon pagoda, Yangon.

Ancient Indian philosopher, ascetic and spiritual teacher of South Asia who lived during the latter half of the first millennium BCE.

- Gautama Buddha

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Bodh Gaya

Religious site and place of pilgrimage associated with the Mahabodhi Temple Complex in Gaya district in the Indian state of Bihar.

The Bodhi Tree under which Gautama Buddha is said to have obtained Enlightenment

Mahabodhi temple, built under the Gupta Empire, 6th century CE.

Illustration of the temple built by Asoka at Bodh-Gaya around the Bodhi tree. Sculpture of the Satavahana period at Sanchi, 1st century CE.

It is famous as it is the place where Gautama Buddha is said to have attained Enlightenment (bodhi) under what became known as the Bodhi Tree.

Lumbini

Buddhist pilgrimage site in the Rupandehi District of Lumbini Province in Nepal.

Mayadevi Temple and ruins of ancient monasteries in Lumbini

It is the place where, according to Buddhist tradition, Queen Mahamayadevi gave birth to Siddhartha Gautama at around 563 BCE.

Enlightenment in Buddhism

Western translation of various Buddhist terms, most notably bodhi and vimutti.

The Western world based-on Samuel P. Huntington's 1996 Clash of Civilizations. Latin America, depicted in turquoise, could be considered a sub-civilization within Western civilization, or a distinct civilization intimately related to the West and descended from it. For political consequences, the second option is the most adequate.

The term is also being used to translate several other Buddhist terms and concepts, which are used to denote (initial) insight (prajna (Sanskrit), wu (Chinese), kensho and satori (Japanese)); knowledge (vidya); the "blowing out" (Nirvana) of disturbing emotions and desires; and the attainment of supreme Buddhahood (samyak sam bodhi), as exemplified by Gautama Buddha.

Buddhist ethics

In the Zen Buddhist initiation ceremony of Jukai, initiates take up the Bodhisattva Precepts.

Giving (Dana) is an important Buddhist virtue. The community of monastics is seen as the most meritorious field of karmic fruitfulness.

Japanese illustration of Iyo-no-Kami Minamoto Kuro Yoshitsune and Saito Musashi-bo Benkei, the Buddhist warrior monk.

Thích Quảng Đức's self-immolation during the Buddhist crisis

The Buddha, represented by the Bodhi tree, attended by animals, Sanchi vihara.

Buddhist nuns from the Tibetan tradition, volunteering in Kyegundo (Tibet Earthquake zone).

The Guan Yin of the South Sea of Sanya is the largest statue of a woman in the world.

Bhutan's government promotes the concept of 'Gross National Happiness' (GNH), based on Buddhist spiritual values.

Buddhist ethics are traditionally based on what Buddhists view as the enlightened perspective of the Buddha.

Nepal

Landlocked country in South Asia.

Mount Everest, the highest peak on earth, lies on the Nepal–China border.

This land cover map of Nepal using Landsat 30 m (2010) data shows forest cover as the dominant type of land cover in Nepal.

The greater one-horned rhinoceros roams the sub-tropical grasslands of the Terai plains.

The Himalayan monal (Danphe), the national bird of Nepal, nests high in the Himalayas.

B.P. Koirala led the 1951 revolution, became the first democratically elected Prime Minister, and after being deposed and imprisoned in 1961, spent the rest of his life fighting for democracy.

Nepal has made progress with regard to minority rights in recent years.

Traffic Police personnel manually direct traffic at the busiest roads and junctions.

Nepal is one of the major contributors to UN peacekeeping missions.

The multipurpose Kukri knife (top) is the signature weapon of the Nepali armed forces, and is used by the Gurkhas, Nepal Army, Police and even security guards.

A proportional representation of Nepal exports, 2019

Real GPD per capita development of Nepal

Tourists view a greater one-horned rhinoceros from an elephant in Chitwan National Park.

While adults are employed in slavery-like conditions abroad, hundreds of thousands of children in the country are employed as child labour (not including the agricultural sector).

Middle Marsyangdi Hydroelectric Dam. Nepal has significant potential to generate hydropower, which it plans to export across South Asia.

Historical development of life expectancy in Nepal

Bhanubhakta Acharya, Nepali writer who translated the ancient Hindu epic Ramayana in the Nepali language

A Nepali man in Daura-Suruwal, coat and Dhaka topi, displays the bhoto during the Bhoto Jatra festival.

A dal-bhat thali with boiled rice, lentil soup, fried leafy greens, vegetable curry, yoghurt, papad and vegetable salad

Nepali children playing a variant of knucklebones, with pebbles

Nepali cricket fans are renowned for an exceptionally enthusiastic support of their national team.

"Nēpāla" in the late Brahmi script, in the Allahabad Pillar inscription of Samudragupta (350-375 CE).

In the middle of the first millennium BC, Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, was born in Lumbini in southern Nepal.

Sangha

Sanskrit word used in many Indian languages, including Pali (सङ्घ,saṃgha/saṅgha) meaning "association", "assembly", "company" or "community"; Sangha is often used as a surname across these religions.

Monks, Tibetan Buddhist monastery, Rato Dratsang, India, January 2015

Shakyamuni Buddha and his followers, holding begging bowls, receive offerings. An 18th-century Burmese watercolor.

Upāsakas and Upāsikās performing a short chanting ceremony at Three Ancestors Temple, Anhui, China

In Buddhism, Gautama Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha each are described as having certain characteristics.

Jataka tales

The railings of the Bharhut Stupa contain roundels with jātaka illustrations

Bhutanese painted thangka of the Jātakas, 18t–19th century, Phajoding Gonpa, Thimphu, Bhutan

Pali manuscript of the Suvannasama Jataka, Khom Thai script (Khmer Mul script), Central Thailand, 18th century

Sama cares for his blind parents, an illustration of one of the Mahānipāta jātakas

Sibi Jataka in limestone at Nagarjunakonda (c. 3rd-4th Century CE), Andhra Pradesh

Vessantara Jataka, Bharhut, Shunga period

Maha-Ummagga Jataka, Gandhara, 2nd century CE

Tumshuq, Toqquz-sarai monastery, Visvamtara-jataka

Nine-colored deer jataka. Northern Wei. Mogao cave 257

Thangka of Buddha with the One Hundred Jataka Tales in the background, Tibet, 13th-14th century.

Borobudur Jataka, Level 1 Balustrade, South Wall

Modern era rendition of the Jataka tales by a Myanmar-based Vipassana center in India

King Bhuridatta although caught by Alambayana maintains his Virtue, Bhuridatta Jataka

"The snow-covered mountain child", by Soga Shōhaku circa 1764

The Story of King Mandhatar; The Story of King Candraprabha; The Tale of the Island of Vadaradvipa, Tibetan Painting from an Avadana Kalpalata Jataka Series

Tibetan Buddha Shakyamuni with "Jataka" Tales

Round Bowl Depicting the Vessantara Jataka - Silver Alloy - 18th-19th Century CE - Myanmar.

The Jātakas (meaning "Birth Story", "related to a birth") are a voluminous body of literature native to South Asia which mainly concern the previous births of Gautama Buddha in both human and animal form.

Shakya

Ancient eastern sub-Himalayan ethnic group of north-eastern South Asia whose existence is attested during the Iron Age.

The words "Bu-dhe" and "Sa-kya-mu-nī" (Sage of the "Shakyas") in Brahmi script, on Ashoka's Rummindei Minor Pillar Edict (circa 250 BCE).

Bharhut inscription: Bhagavato Sakamunino Bodho ("The illumination of the Blessed Sakamuni"), circa 100 BCE.

Map of mahajanapadas with the Shakya Republic next to Shravasti and Kosala.

Procession of king Suddhodana from Kapilavastu, proceeding to meet his son the Buddha walking in mid-air (heads raised towards his path at the bottom of the panel), and to give him a Banyan tree (bottom left corner). Sanchi.

Ashoka's Mahabodhi Temple and Diamond throne in Bodh Gaya, built circa 250 BCE. The inscription between the Chaitya arches reads: "Bhagavato Sakamunino/ bodho" i.e. "The building round the Bodhi tree of the Holy Sakamuni (Shakyamuni)". Bharhut frieze (circa 100 BCE).

Suddhodana was married to the princess Māyā, who was the daughter of a Koliya noble, and the son of Suddhodana and Māyā was Siddhartha Gautama, the historical Buddha and founder of Buddhism.

Vinaya

Division of the Buddhist canon (Tripitaka) containing the rules and procedures that govern the Buddhist monastic community, or Sangha.

Burmese Kammavaca manuscript written in Pali in the 'Burmese' script.

According to an origin story prefaced to the Theravada Bhikkhu Suttavibhanga, in the early years of the Buddha's teaching the sangha lived together in harmony with no vinaya, as there was no need, because all of the Buddha's early disciples were highly realized if not fully enlightened.

Middle Way

Ancient kingdoms and cities of India during the time of the Buddha (circa 500 BCE) – modern-day India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan

The Middle Way as well as "teaching the Dharma by the middle" (majjhena dhammaṃ deseti) are common Buddhist terms used to refer to two major aspects of the Dhamma, that is, the teaching of the Buddha.