Earth witness

Buddha statue in earth witness at the altar of Vipassana Foundation

The Buddha is usually depicted in the earth witness posture. This is when one hand is reaching toward the ground to represent that the earth has witnessed his enlightenment.

This is in slight contrast to Amitabha statues which look almost identical to Buddha statues with the only exception being that the hands form two circles in the lap of Amitabha.

Other postures of the historical Buddha include the teaching mudra gesture where the hands are toward the chest and the meditation posture where one hand is on top of the other.