China: Stone Tathagata Buddha (559 CE), Northern Zhou Dynasty (557 - 581 CE), Shanghai Museum, Shanghai

Tathāgata (Devanagari: तथागत, Sanskrit: [t̪əˈtɑɡət̪ə]) is a Pali and Sanskrit word that the Buddha of the Pali Canon uses when referring to himself. The term is often thought to mean either 'one who has thus gone' (tathā-gata) or 'one who has thus come' (tathā-āgata). This is interpreted as signifying that the Tathagata is beyond all coming and going – beyond all transitory phenomena.

Copyright:

CPA Media Co. Ltd.

Photographer:

David Henley

Credit:

Pictures From Asia