DIPANKAR

Dipankar Buddha is a deity of Mahayana Buddhism. He is the ‘Enlightener’ and one of the earliest of the several predecessors of Gautam Buddha (who is considered as the twenty-fifth Buddha). Dipankar is believed to have hailed from Deepavati, a mythological abode. At the moment of his birth there was a miraculous manifestation of a large number of bright lamps or the Dipa’s in local term, hence he was named Dipankar, or the source of light.

Believed to have lived for millions of years on earth, Dipankar Buddha is projected with his right hand in Abhaya Mudra and left hand in Varada Mudra. He is depicted either in sitting or in standing postures with the monastic garment wrapped over the left shoulder with pleated edges where as the lower garment is pleated in a manner of a flowering skirt.