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"He has lots of beads to make him colorful. The beads on his head are his curly hair."

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      "He has a butter churn to make butter to give to       the poor people. The doggie is to protect him."

      
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Buddha

Buddha
India; 6th century
Copper alloy
1979.009

This Buddha forms the gesture of reassurance (abhaya mudra) with his right hand and holds a piece of cloth, originally meant to represent part of his robe, in his left hand. His webbed fingers, snail shell-shaped curls, and the bump on top of his head are among the thirty-two auspicious marks (lakshanas) described in Buddhist literature that signify his advanced spiritual enlightenment. The style of his nearly transparent robe follows conventions established in Sarnath (east-central India) in the last quarter of the 5th century.

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