Plaque showing seated Buddha inside temple

The Buddha in bhumisparsa mudrais seen seated in an architectural setting of the Bodh Gaya temple. Both, the mudra and the suggestive location have a semiotic connotation, Bodh Gaya being the place of the Buddha’s enlightenment. Inscribed below the stupas under his seat is the Buddhist creed of “ye dharma….” Such portable votive images were either donated at the pilgrimage site or carried by pilgrims as reminders of their visit, a practice in vogue even today at most pilgrimage centres.