Standing Buddha From Sarnath, north India. Gupta period, about 435 CE. This figure of the Buddha holds up his right hand in reassurance (abhaya mudra) -- a gesture indicating that there is nothing to fear once one has taken refuge in the Buddha and his teachings. The image also exhibits a number of auspicious marks (laksana), special signs of the Buddha's unique spiritual status. Most notable among these is the protuberance on the top of the head (usnisa), an emblem of the Buddha's superior wisdom. Sarnath is the place in north India where the Buddha first taught. In later centuries it became an important ceutre of monasticism and Buddhist thought. The serene and ethereal representations at Sarnath are perhaps due to ideas developed there about the Buddha having a sublime body of uncontaminated qualities (dharmakdaya). The feet on display here are from a separate image of about the same size. They are shown to give some indication of the original appearance of the sculpture. OA 1880. 6 India Museum Collcction.