Much Buddhist art depicts the historical Buddha, Gautama Buddha, in forms known as Buddharūpa (lit. 'Form of the Awakened One') in Sanskrit and Pali. These may be statues or other images such as paintings. The main figure in an image may also represent another individual who has attained Buddhahood, or a bodhisattva, especially within the various traditions of Mahayana Buddhism. Other Buddhas and bodhisattvas in art have become increasingly common over the centuries, perhaps now even outnumbering images of the historical Buddha.
In its first centuries Buddhism was largely or entirely aniconic, not showing the person of Buddha except by symbols and relics. This changed, and figures of the Buddha became very common in the art of Gandhara and Gupta art. As forms of esoteric Buddhism developed, other figures from the expanding array of Buddhist sacred persons became more prominent. In Theravada Buddhism this was much less the case, and figures of the historical Buddha remain the most common main images in temples and shrines to the present.
