Many depictions of Siddhartha Gautama show him meditating and posing certain hand gestures called mudras that symbolize different ideas relating to events that happened on his way to enlightenment.
Though there are several mudras that different Buddhas and bodhisattvas use in their practice, quite a few have been known to specifically associate with Gautama Buddha or Shakyamuni.
Here are some of them, their meanings, and the context in which they were done.
(Image credit: Wikimedia Commons)
