Infant Buddha

Buddha Shakyamuni was born Prince Siddhartha Gautama in 560 BCE in Lumbini Park in the Himalayan foothills, the son of king Śuddhodana Gautama of the Shakya clan and Queen Maya. According to Buddhist scriptures both his conception and birth were miraculous. During a full moon Queen Maya dreamed that a white elephant entered her womb through the right side of her chest, and she became pregnant. On the way to her father’s kingdom she gave birth in a standing position grasping a sala tree in Lumbini Park. He emerged from Maya’s side fully formed. He took seven steps and at each step, a lotus appeared. At the seventh stride, he stopped and with a noble voice proclaimed he was the king of the world, and after him there will be no more coming to be. In most Mahayana depictions of the miraculous birth, the Buddha is depicted as a standing infant with one hand pointing to heavens and the other down to earth to symbolize his supremacy over all aspects of the universe. He immediately walked in multiple directions, and with each step lotus plants grew, and at the seventh stride, he stopped and with a noble voice proclaimed:

“The chief am I in all the world.
Eldest am I in the world.
Foremost am I in the world.
This is the last birth.
There is now no more coming to be.”

The auspicious birthday took place with a full moon now celebrated as Vesak – the festival of the triple event of Buddha’s birth, enlightenment and death. In Theravada Buddhism on Vesak images are washed by Buddhist priests during a special ceremony.