In Buddhist art and culture, the Urna (Sanskrit: à «rá¹ÂÃÂ, à «rá¹ÂÃÂkeà Âa or à «rá¹ÂÃÂkoà Âa, lit. "hair treasure") is a spiral or circular mark placed on the forehead of Buddhist images as an auspicious sign.
As set out in the Lakkhana Sutta (Discourse on Marks), the à «rá¹Âàis the thirty-first physical characteristic of the Buddha.
The urna is generally interpreted as a whorl of white hair which is a marks a Buddha as a great being (mahÃÂpuruá¹£a). In the Mahayana Sutras, the Buddha is often depicted as shining light out of his urna to illuminate distant world systems. This light became an object of meditation in Mahayana Buddhism.
The urna is often seen on Buddhist sculptures from the 2nd century CE onwards. The urna remains part of standard Buddhist iconography today, often depicted as a gem placed slightly above and between the eyebrows of a Buddha or a bodhisattva.