urna

{{Short description|Spiral or circular dot placed on the forehead of Buddhist images}}

{{other uses}}

{{Buddhist term

| fontsize=100%

| title=Urna

|pi=उण्ण

|pi-Latn=uṇṇa

|sa=ऊर्णा

|sa-Latn=ūrṇā

|zh=白毫

|zh-Latn=Báiháo

|ja=白毫

|ja-Latn=byakugō

|ko=백호

|ko-Latn=baekho

|th=

|th-Latn =

|bo=མཛོད་སྦུས་

|bo-Latn=Wylie: mdzod spu

|vi=Bạch mao tướng

}}

In Buddhist art and culture, the Urna (ūrṇā, ūrṇākeśa or ūrṇākośa{{cite book|editor1-last=Buswell |editor1-first=Robert Jr|editor2-last=Lopez|editor2-first=Donald S. Jr.|editor1-link=Robert Buswell Jr.|editor2-link=Donald S. Lopez, Jr. |title=ūrṇākeśa, in: a Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism|date=2013|publisher=Princeton University Press|location=Princeton, NJ |isbn=9780691157863}}{{cite web |title=The Lost Buddhas: Chinese Buddhist Sculpture from Qingzhou |url=http://www.asianartnewspaper.com/article/lost-buddhas-chinese-buddhist-sculpture-qingzhou|publisher=Asian Art|date=April 14, 2012|access-date=April 12, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150624115810/http://asianartnewspaper.com/article/lost-buddhas-chinese-buddhist-sculpture-qingzhou|archive-date=June 24, 2015|url-status=dead}} (Pāli uṇṇa), and known as {{Lang-zh|c=白毫|p=báiháo|labels=no}} in Chinese) is a spiral or circular dot placed on the forehead of Buddhist images as an auspicious mark.{{cite book|last=Stratton |first=Carol |title=Buddhist Sculpture of Northern Thailand |publisher=Serindia Publications|year=2004|page=50 |ISBN=9781932476095}}

As set out in the Lakkhana Sutta or 'Discourse on Marks', the ūrṇā is the thirty-first physical characteristic of Buddha.{{cite book|last1=Holt|first1=John Clifford|last2=Kinnard |first2=Jacob N.|last3=Walters |first3=Jonathan S.|title=Constituting Communities: Theravada Buddhism and the Religious Cultures of South and Southeast Asia|publisher=SUNY Press|year=2012|page=191 |ISBN=9780791487051}} It is generally thought to be a whorl of hair and be a mark or sign of the Buddha as a mahāpuruṣa or great being.{{Citation needed|reason=Requires external justification.|date=January 2023}} The device is often seen on sculptures from the 2nd century CE.{{Citation needed|reason=Historical claim without reference.|date=January 2023}}