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The Hair and the Usnisa on the Head of the Buddhas and the Jinas
RAMAPRASAD CHANDA
The disposition of hair and the representation of the so-called uṣṇişa 'turban' on the head of the image of the Buddhas and the Jinas (Tirthankaras) are the most puzzling questions of Indian iconography. In an article entitled "The Buddha's cuḍā, hair, uşnişa, and crown", Dr. Coomaraswamy has dealt with the questions in detail (J.R.A.S., 1928, pp. 815-840). Without going over the whole ground covered by that essay I shall venture to suggest other solutions of the puzzles.
The literary evidence for the hair on the Buddha's head relied on by modern scholars is a passage in the introduction to the commentary on the Pali Jātaka known as the Nidanakatha which is thus translated by Rhys Davids :
"Then he thought, 'These locks of mine are not suited for a mendicant. Now it is not right for any one else to cut the hair of a future Buddha, so I will cut them off myself with sword.' Then taking his sword in his right hand, and holding the plaited tresses, together with the diadem on them, with his left, he cut them off. So his hair was thus reduced to two inches in length, and curling from the right, it lay close to his head. It remained that length as long as he lived, and the beard the same. There was no need at all to shave either hair or beard any more." ""1
The Bodhisattva (future Buddha) Guatama then threw the hair and diadem together towards the sky. Sakka received them into a jewel casket,
1 Buddhist Birth Stories, translated by T.W. and C.A.F. Rhys Davids, London, 1880, p.86.
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