Ushnisha

The Ushnisha (Sanskrit, n, उष्णीष, uṣṇīṣa ) is a survey at the crown of the head of the Buddha. It symbolizes his wisdom and openness as an enlightened being.

The Ushnisha was not described in the objects highlighted by the Buddhist canon, " Physical characteristics of the Buddha " from the beginning. Instead, several times a topknot is mentioned:

The first representations of the Buddha in the 1st century AD in the Greco- Buddhist art of Gandhara show him with a topknot in place of a skull hump. It is believed that the interpretation of the Ushnisha as a bump on natural skull happened at a later time when the presentation of the bun was more stylized and its original significance was lost. ( Mario Bussagli, " L' art du Gandhara ").