Laita Vistara

Laita-Vistara is the religious text (sutra) of the life of Sakyamuni which described him having a “very large skull, broad the color of gold; his hair black and curly. His head is snail crowned, that is, it has characteristic spiral curls. These curls are an allusion to the Indian legend which stated that one day when, lost in thought as to how to assuage the world’s woes, Buddha was oblivious of the Sun’s fierce rays beating on his head, the snails in gratitude to Him who loved and shed His blood for all living things, crept up and formed a helmet of their own cool bodies.”