Tara Statue in Brass.

Buddha means Awakened one or Enlightened one. Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, in Sanskrit, or Siddhattha Gotama, in Pali, was a spiritual teacher from ancient India and the founder of Buddhism. The Buddha image portrays the traditional figure of the meditative Yogin, transcendent in his mental powers yet very much a part of this world. Many a time, he is surrounded by images of radiance and abundance, the sun disc and the trees, and supported by lions, emblems of his royal position. While his placement atop a lion throne, and the presence of two attendants holding chowries, serve to emphasize his regal position, at the same time, his Yogic posture, humble robe and gestures of reassurance embody the spiritual nature of his message. This image remained the primary source for subsequent figures of Buddha through Asia. One of the consistencies of Buddhist art in India was the retention of this essentially human image, even when it was surrounded by an array of figures and images of wealth and abundance.