A Buddha image is not only a symbol of the historical person but the human qualities that he perfected; compassion, wisdom, patience, generosity, kindness etc. Buddha images in human form appeared much later than the construction and worship of stupas and other symbols. His presence was originally indicated by footprints, by a standing woman (his mother) representing his birth, a tree the Enlightenment, a wheel the Doctrine and the First Sermon, and the stupa his death. The lack of human cult images until the last centuries BCE was common to all classical Indian religions.
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