Buddha Image

Buddha Image Superimposed on a Bodhi Leaf. The image is made of Sandalwood and it was carved by a friend of my father by name Muralidhar. This was once a part of the calendar, he made by hand and presented to my father as a house warming gift. This carving decorated my sister's wall for a very long time. The last time I went to India, my sister pulled it out and gave it to me. The back of the image still has the color of the wall (green distemper) on it's back. It now decorates my refrigerator.

The bodhi leaf comes from a sapling of Bodhi Tree located in Sitagu Buddhist Vihara, Austin, TX, the local Burmese Temple. It was donated to local temple by the Houston Buddhist Temple (Sri Lanka). The sapling over there came from Sri Lanka and is a descendant of a tree brought to Sri Lanka by Sanghamitra, daughter of Ashoka.