Some foreign people claim that this painting is a portrait of the Buddha, but it is not true. It is a painting on cloth. Even on wood, it is difficult to maintain a good quality. Jesus Christ was born after the Buddha. They did not find a real portrait of him. What about the Buddha, who was born more than a thousand years earlier?

In fact, no one has seen the real face of the Buddha. They built Buddha images based on the Buddha image that King Ashoka, the emperor of India, dedicated himself to Buddhism and was sincere with Buddhism. He built a large stupa to house the Buddha's relics by carving the Buddha image as a monument there. We, Buddhists, do not even know what the Buddha image looks like.

It was with this sincere love for Buddhism that King Ashoka ordered the construction of stupas and stupas at all the historical sites of the Buddha, made of natural stone, which are left for people to worship today.

 After Ashoka's death, Buddhism declined in influence and was attacked again by Brahmins, who buried and demolished the monuments that Ashoka had built. Buddhism was also abandoned by most people in India, turning to practicing only Brahmanism for hundreds of thousands of years. It was only during the British colonial period in India that a group of British archaeologists began researching and restoring the ruined temples buried in the forests to make them look good again.

Therefore, believing in something must be done with wisdom, not with excessive faith.

(Stone image of a Buddha statue at Sakyamuni Temple, Sanchi, India, built by Ashoka)