Happy Buddha statues
The Happy Buddha statues we have in the collection of our gallery are purchased directly from collectors and Buddhist enthusiasts from China and many other countries in Southeast Asia. We sell these Happy Buddha statues to the collectors and Buddhists enthusiasts all over the world. Handmade and authentic, many of the statues we sell are mostly rare and antique Happy Buddhas collected from various Buddhist monasteries and temples who wish to part from their Buddhist arts.
Meaning of Happy Buddha
The Happy Buddha is also known as Laughing Buddha, Smiling Buddha, Hotei, Budai or Pu tai. He is also popular as the Big Belly Buddha or Chinese Buddha. The Happy Buddha is usually identified as an incarnation of Maitreya, the future Buddha. This belief has been very popular as the Happy Buddha statues are one of the main forms in which Maitreya is generally portrayed in Eastern Asia.
Happy Buddha is usually portrayed as an obese and bald man wearing a robe and carrying prayer beads. Similarly, the images of Happy Buddha depicts him carrying only few possessions in a cloth sack while smiling, signifying that he is content even though he is poor. Similarly, the images and arts often portray the Happy Buddha entertaining or being followed by children. Happy Buddha statues appear in many Chinese as well as East Asian cultures representing contentment. According to Chinese History, the Happy Buddha was a Buddhist monk who lived during the 10th century. Famous for being a man of good and loving character, the Buddhists started to consider him as a Buddha or a Bodhisattva.
The Happy Buddha statues can be seen in different positions and each of the position has its own meaning behind it.
Happy Buddha is often fused with the historical Buddha, Siddhartha Gautam Buddha, and sometimes even replaced with him despite of the clearly seen visual differences in the depictions of the either Buddhas. The images of Siddhartha Gautam, who was born in Lumbini, Nepal, often portray him to be tall and slender while the Chinese portray the Happy Buddha to be short, obese and bald.
Happy Buddha statues are normally believed to bring good luck, happiness, wisdom and feeling of contentment. Therefore, it is a common sight in various hotels, restaurants, public places to have Happy Buddha statues in China and other Asian countries.
Look at our Happy Buddha statues
Happy Buddha shop
The Happy Buddha statues in our gallery are collected after purchasing them directly from collectors and Buddhist monasteries from China, Japan, Burma and other Asian countries. We travel every 3-4 months around the countries from Southeast Asian region to research for the most special Happy Buddhas currently available. Because of our frequent visits, we have managed to create a very good relationship with the dealers and collectors as well as the monasteries. Because of this relation, we have been able to create a unique collection of antique and rare Happy Buddhas. Our collection of happy Buddhas is always changing; visit the catalog on our website to see all the Happy Buddha statues in our collection.
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