The footprint of the Buddha (Buddhapada in Sanskrit

Sanskrit

Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...

, in Japanese) is an imprint of Gautama Buddha

Gautama Buddha

Siddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...

's one or both feet. There are two forms: natural, as found in stone or rock, and those made artificially. Many of the "natural" ones, of course, are acknowledged not to be actual footprints of the Buddha, but replicas or representations of them, which can be considered cetiya

Cetiya

The cetiya, "reminders" or "memorials" , are objects and places used by Theravada Buddhists to remember Gautama Buddha. These are traditionally divided into three categories: śarīraka, pieces of the body, paribhogaka, things he used, and udeśaka, reminders...

(Buddhist relic

Relic

In religion, a relic is a part of the body of a saint or a venerated person, or else another type of ancient religious object, carefully preserved for purposes of veneration or as a tangible memorial...

s) and also an early aniconic and symbolic representation of the Buddha.

The footprints of the Buddha abound throughout Asia, dating from various periods.