Urna

For other uses, see Urna (disambiguation).

In Buddhist art and culture, the Urna (ūrṇā, ūrṇākeśa or ūrṇākośa^[1][2] (Pāli uṇṇa), and known as 白毫; báiháo in Chinese) is a spiral or circular dot placed on the forehead of Buddhist images as an auspicious mark.^[2][3]

Translations of Urna
Sanskrit	ऊर्णा (IAST: ūrṇā)
Pali	उण्ण (uṇṇa)
Chinese	白毫 (Pinyin: Báiháo)
Japanese	白毫 (Rōmaji: byakugō)
Korean	백호 (RR: baekho)
Tibetan	མཛོད་སྦུས་ (Wylie: mdzod spu)
Vietnamese	Bạch mao tướng
Glossary of Buddhism

As set out in the Lakkhana Sutta or 'Discourse on Marks', the ūrṇā is the thirty-first physical characteristic of Buddha.^[4] It is generally thought to be a whorl of hair and be a mark or sign of the Buddha as a mahāpuruṣa or great being.^{[citation needed]} The device is often seen on sculptures from the 2nd century CE.^{[citation needed]}

Gallery

• 
  Buddha with urna depicted as a circular dot
• 
  Buddha sculpture found within the vihāra of Wat Phra Si Sanphet, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Province, Thailand, 16th century CE
• 
  The unalome (อุณาโลม) yantra is a stylised representation of the urna.

See also

• Ājñā
• Bindi (decoration)
• Bindu (symbol)
• Yantra tattooing