Abstract
The Portrait of Cundi Buddha in Old Uyghur
When the history of religions is examined, it will be seen that the forms of worship and various symbols of these forms of worship are in common. It is available in all religions to read pray or magical words to approach the divine and to achieve various gains. In Buddhism, especially in Tantric Buddhism, there are similar forms of worship. One of these is to read the Buddha's dhāraṇīsi during the maṇḍala ceremony and depict the Buddha's description with the mantras. When these mantras are spoken from the inside, it will be easier for one to achieve gains. There are various information about the depiction of Cuṇḍī Buddha in the Cuṇḍīdevīdhāraṇī ‘Cuṇḍī goddess / Buddha's dhāraṇīsi’ in Old Uyghur and instructions on how to paint it. According to these instructions, Cuṇḍī Buddha is depicted sitting in a lotus flower protected by two dragon brothers in the lake waters and there are third eyed of Cuṇḍī. However, Cuṇḍī Buddha has eighteen hands and she holds various objects in these eighteen hands. This study will focus on symbolic expressions and their semantic values in the description of Cuṇḍī Buddha. Thus, the place in Uyghur of these symbolic expressions will be determined.
Keywords
dhāraṇī, mantra, mudra, Cuṇḍī Buddha, Old Uyghur
