Pocket Buddhas — Iconography Guide
The 2–3 load-bearing details each figure must carry, so it reads as itself and stays doctrinally true.
The one rule: style is free, iconography is fixed. The line, palette, and
composition are entirely the artist's. The listed elements per figure are the non-negotiables —
the mudra (hand gesture), the attributes (what's held), and the form — because those are what
identify the being. A beautiful painting with the wrong mudra is a painting of someone else.
Where several traditional forms exist, one form is chosen per card and specced here.
DRAFT — verify before use. This sheet is a strong starting point, not a
final authority. Confirm each figure against a reliable iconographic source and a practitioner's
eye before art begins (same discipline as the mantra pass). Entries marked ⚠ verify form
need their specific form researched before drawing.
Buddha
Awakened → unadorned: monastic robe, no crown/jewels, uṣṇīṣa (crown bump), ūrṇā (brow dot), long earlobes. Told apart by mudra + body colour.
Bodhisattva
Still turned toward the world → adorned like royalty: crown, silks, jewels. Told apart by attributes + mudra. (Never a bare monk — except Jizō.)
Wrathful Protector
Compassion's fierce face → flames, skull-crown, weapons, dark-blue or red, dancing/trampling stance. Fierce ≠ evil.