Check this out. - mainly about his being bald according to original texts and not so only from later art. But also mentions of him being black and indistinguishable from other monks. And also this article maintains that being bald was not then a style for holy people, but for those kicked out of their caste or without caste. - thanks Andrew Main There's more on the black subject on the internet. Just search for "buddha black." It's also well known Jesus, if he existed, was not white.
My second trip to India was in the south, to Tamil Nadu. My Kashimiri Hindu cardiologist told me I'd like the people there, that they're sincere and dignified. "They're the original people of India. We're invaders from the north," he said.
I think of this as what the appearance of the average Tamil Nadu man was. It's very hard to find such images. Even when I did an image search for "black tamil nadu man" I came up with the northern lighter appearance. There are also plenty of very dark to black people up north but it was the norm in the south. So it seems to me that's more like the stock from which Buddha came. Maybe.- dc
My second trip to India was in the south, to Tamil Nadu. My Kashimiri Hindu cardiologist told me I'd like the people there, that they're sincere and dignified. "They're the original people of India. We're invaders from the north," he said.
I think of this as what the appearance of the average Tamil Nadu man was. It's very hard to find such images. Even when I did an image search for "black tamil nadu man" I came up with the northern lighter appearance. There are also plenty of very dark to black people up north but it was the norm in the south. So it seems to me that's more like the stock from which Buddha came. Maybe.- dc