Actually, those aren't earrings. Those are his years. According to the Tipitika, a Great Man has 32 physical marks, including long earlobes.
The Buddha is not depicted with a big belly in Tibetan or Indian art. The big belly seems to be a Chinese thing. [Addendum: My Chinese cultural consultant says that the big-bellied Buddha is most certainly Maitreya, the future Buddha. The big belly represents being full of potential.]
Big Belly Laughing Buddha in Chinese language....
buddha day
耳環Ěrhuán
Something to a buddha.
God, of course. Buddha is just the Chinese equivalent of Jesus.
The person we call The Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, was born in northern India, which is now in Nepal.
Gautama Buddha
Buddha
Buddha was a prince. In ancient India it was customary to wear earrings that stretched the ear-lobes.
The seven lucky Buddha statues are said to represent many instances in life like wealth, happiness, good luck, and the like. The seven statues are money Buddha, lucky Buddha, ingot Buddha, laughing Buddha, freedom Buddha, relaxing Buddha, and wealthy Buddha.
the reason there is a fat Chinese buddha is due to the fact that the Chinese adopted the buddha and altered it because in china the more heavy set you are the more "wealthy" you are...there are in fact two different sides of this believe system