The footprints of the Buddha are venerated in all Buddhist countries. These highly schematized footprints generally show all the toes to be of equal length, and are incised in stone. They often bear distinguishing marks – either a Dharma wheel or cakra at the centre of the sole, or the 32, 108 or 132 distinctive signs of the Buddha, engraved or painted on the sole and inscribed in a sort of checkerboard pattern. These imprints are especially venerated in countries such as Sri Lanka and Thailand, where they are protected in a special structure, sometimes highly elaborate. Finally, The prints of the hands and feet of holy personages are generally applied during the ceremony when the buddhapada is consecrated.

The footprint of the Buddha is an imprint of Gautama Buddha’s foot or both feet. There are two forms: natural, as found in stone or rock, and those made artificially. Many of the “natural” ones are acknowledged not to be genuine footprints of the Buddha, but rather replicas or representations of them, which can be considered cetiya (Buddhist relics) and also an early aniconic and symbolic