Originally posted by marcteng:
Erm, when someone makes a statue of Di Zhang Wang Pusa as an indian.
You know the sanskrit name of Di Zhang Wang Pusa?
You seen the indian statue of the next buddha Maitreya?
Chinese statue portray him as rotund and laughing buddha.
Sanskrit name of Di Zhang Wang Pu Sa: Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva lor..
I dont think there is any 'indian statues' of buddha maitreya, unless you are talking about the ancient Gandhara (pakistan) statues of Maitreya which I quite liked. It is with the 32 major marks and 80 minor marks of the buddha.
Chinese statue portray Maitreya as a fat and laughing buddha (to be precise: Bodhisattva, because he hasn't attain Buddhahood yet), because there was really such an incarnation in China. He was plump, big bellied, always happy, and carries a bag with him (thats why he's called bu-dai-he-shang). Similarly Guan Yin was portrayed as a female with white robes because of the well known incarnation Miao-Shan in China.