Buddha Footprints in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, August 2023

Title: Buddha footprints (buddhapada)

Period: Ikshvaku

Date: late 3rd–4th century CE

Culture: India, Phanigiri, Suryapet district, Telangana

Medium: Limestone

Dimensions: H. 16 in. (40.6 cm); W. 16 in. (40.6 cm); D. 6 in. (15.2 cm)

Classification: Sculpture

Credit Line: Lent by State Museum Hyderabad

Object Number: TS.199

A symbol of the Buddha's presence, a stone slab depicting his footprints (buddhapada) was a regular feature of Buddhist monastic architecture in southern India. In a religious setting, reverence for the footprint alludes to a profound respect for higher knowledge-wisdom, witnessed by devotees prostrating themselves before the feet of a spiritual mentor. This buddhapada was excavated from a semicircular (apsidal) shrine at the Phanigiri monastery. It carries a one-line inscription that honors the donor’s gift and asserts his lineage. The footprints display numerous auspicious marks of a Great Man (mahapurusa), most prominently the Dharma-wheel on the soles of the feet.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/772148