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Here Buddha is represented in the dispelling fear - blessing pose with
the palm of his right hand facing out to give blessing or dispel fear.
That hand position is known as abhaya mudra. He usually faces the
north. His is also known as Amoghasidhi, one of the five Celestial
Buddhas.
Buddha was born in 563 B.C. in northeast India. The
Buddha was the son of the King of the Sakyas. Suddhodana, who ruled at
Kapilavastu, on the border of Nepal. His mother was Queen Maya. He was
named Siddartha. He lived amidst the pleasures of palace life and at
age 16 he was married to Princess Yasodhara. They had a son named
Rahula. After seeing a decrepit old man, an invalid, and an ascetic
beggar, he learned of suffering and decided to embrace asceticism. Soon
afterward, at age 29, Siddhartha left the palace and his family and
went to a hermitage where he became monk Guatama, or, as he is still
called, Sakyamuni (The ascetic of the Sakyas). One day, meditating
under a sacred fig tee, he attained perfect illumination (Bodhi). He
had become a Buddha. From there on he traveled and preached for 44
years what was to become one of the main religions of the world. He
died at Kusinagara at age 80.
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