The Origin of Buddha Statues
It was said that during the lifetime of Buddha Sakyamuni, when he was in Tusita Heaven preaching the Dharma to his mother for three months, King Udayana of Kausambi missed the presence of the Buddha on earth, and so he thought of creating an image of Him. He asked Maugalayanaputra to send an artist to the heaven to observe the details and marks on the Body of Buddha so as to create a sandalwood image. On His return to earth, Buddha Sakyamuni addressed the image to take up the propagation of the dharma. Hence, the purpose of image was started.
From thereon, Buddha statues are commonly seen in four positions: Seated, Standing, Walking and Reclining, depicting the dedication of Buddha Sakyamuni who spent much of his time explaining to both his disciples and the people about the Dharma or the Buddhist teachings, regardless whether seated or while walking or even as he was about to go into parinirvana.
Even though a buddha image was created for followers to venerate and served as a reminder to aspire to similarly be awakened, some scholars may dismiss it as a mere legend. This is because Buddha taught that one should not be fixated on any phenomena, regardless the form or formless. So, why do Buddhists still place such great importance and interests in representations of the Buddha in various iconography, building monasteries and adhering to the religious rites?
This brings out the significance of symbols when used to illustrate the dharma.
The quintessence of Buddhism is to use our wisdom to realise the Truth, which is none other than shunyata or emptiness. Our failure to realise this Truth caused us to habitually fall into the dualistic trap of hope & fear, reacting to them as if they were true. These reactions or karma in turn lead to more sufferings. Simple as this logic may sound, it is fortunate that most of us are constantly experiencing this dualistic state of taking everything we experience to be real. Out of wisdom and great compassion, enlightened beings such as the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas devise skilful means to remind us of the reality. Symbols such as statues and religious rituals are examples of these skilful means.