Hair is frequently used as a metaphor for human illusion. As a result, it is also referred to as the “weeds of ignorance,” and shaving one’s head symbolizes letting go of those delusions. Maintaining a clean body and mind will help us reach a state of profound insight and enlightenment. For this reason, Buddhist monks frequently have shorn heads. According to history, Siddhartha Gautam Buddha may have had his hair cropped when he left his palatial home in search of enlightenment.
However, Buddha is shown as having short, tightly curled ringlets in statues and other works of art. The Buddha’s head has about 108 ringlet curls. Therefore, one could wonder why painters have portrayed Buddha as having short ringlets. There are a variety of beliefs. According to one theory, such ringlets are not short hair. Actually, those are 108 dried snails.
Why Snails on Buddha Head?
The Buddha was out and about one day. He sat down beneath the tree and started to think as he started to ruminate. He lost track of time since he was lost in his thoughts. His bald head was directed to the sun’s beams as time passed.
A snail was moving across the way of the earth at that very moment. Snail observed the Buddha in his meditation on that sweltering day. Even though he was sitting beneath a tree, the sun shone directly on his head. Snail believed that the Buddha’s head would soon become distracting and make it difficult for him to focus.
Conclusion
Snail climbed to the Buddha’s head without a second thought and sat there, his mucus body chilling the Buddha’s smooth, exposed skin. Some snails followed the leading one, made their way to the head, and sat down there as well. The snails’ heads resembled tidy head caps.