Buddharūpa (बुद्धरूप, literally, "Form of the Awakened One") is the Sanskrit and Pali term used in Buddhism for statues or models of the Buddha.

Despite cultural and regional differences in the interpretations of texts about the life of Gautama Buddha, there are some general guidelines to the attributes of a Buddharupa:

The elongated earlobes are vestiges of his life as a prince, when he wore extravagant jewellery. The "head protuberance" symbolises the loose connection between the mind and the body of a Buddha or Bodhisattva.

From a gaunt, seated ascetic to a laughing big-bellied wanderer, depictions of the Buddha vary widely across cultures.

The Buddharupas of India, Tibet, and the other Buddhist cultures usually depict a well proportioned figure, but sometimes he is shown emaciated, in recollection of the Buddha's years of ascetic practices. Japanese Buddharupas are often very square and stolid, while Indian and Southeast Asian ones often have thinner figures.^{[citation needed]}

Many people may be familiar with the "Happy" or "Laughing" Buddharupa, a different historical figure, who should not be confused with the images of Gautama Buddha. Hotei or Budai, a Chinese Buddhist monk, is depicted as fat and happy, often travelling or bearing wealth.^{[citation needed]}

Gautama Buddha or Siddhārtha Gautama Buddha (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम बुद्ध; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. The word Buddha is a title for the first awakened being in an era. In most Buddhist traditions, Siddhartha Gautama is regarded as the Supreme Buddha (P. sammāsambuddha, S. samyaksaṃbuddha) of our age, "Buddha" meaning "awakened one" or "the enlightened one." Gautama Buddha may also be referred to as Śākyamuni (Sanskrit: शाक्यमुनि "Sage of the Śākyas"). The Buddha found a Middle Way that ameliorated the extreme asceticism found in the Sramana religions.

The time of Gautama's birth and death are uncertain: most early 20th-century historians dated his lifetime as c. 563 BCE to 483 BCE, but more recent opinion dates his death to between 486 and 483 BCE or, according to some, between 411 and 400 BCE. UNESCO lists Lumbini, Nepal, as a world heritage site and birthplace of Gautama Buddha. There are also claims about birth place of Gautama Buddha to be Kapileswara, Orissa or Kapilavastu at Piprahwa, Uttar Pradesh He later taught throughout regions of eastern India such as Magadha and Kośala.