The face of the Buddha

I know in Western society there is still much debate about what Jesus actually looked like. Throughout western history European painters and sculptures have depicted him mostly as a white western European. These depictions are still being propagated today with the host of images magically appearing on things like toast, irons, oil slicks on puddles and street signs. So it may not surprise you that the same debate goes on here in the East about the actual look of the Buddha. In the largest of the Cambodian temples it is suspected that the Buddha image looked rather a lot like the father of the king that had them carved. But as most of the remaining Buddha images have their heads missing it is hard for us to get a clear idea what the Buddha actually looked like.