Representation of the Sacred Foot-print of Lord Buddha at Dambadeniya, Sri Lanka.

A representation of the Sacred Foot-print of Lord Buddha formed the object of remembrance of the Teacher, in the early years of Buddhism. An empty chair, a 'chamara' - a type of large fan, an umbrella etc were also used for this purpose. This was because of the firm belief since Lord Buddha attained 'Nibbana' - 'nothingness', there was no object left of him to worship. This was a strongly held belief till the advent of the statues made in the 2nd Century AD.
The Sacred Foot-print had some of the the auspicious signs as predicted by astrologers incorporated. This version installed in Damabadeniya was made in recent years.