The Buddha Statue is a symbol of Buddhism's ancient founder, Siddhartha Gautama, a prince from northern India. He lived from about 563 to 483 BC. Buddhism originated as a form of atheism. They abandoned the idea of a personal God (Ishvara) who controlled the eternal fate of souls. Gautama denied the ancient theistic beliefs, because he found it challenging to bring together the idea of suffering and evil with the existence of a righteous God.