Holy rainbow! Rare Buddha's Halo appears over mountain in China

By Mail Foreign Service
Last updated at 2:45 PM on 20th August 2010

It may be the rarest of all rainbows, only appearing when sunlight, cloud or fog, and the observers are all in a line.

So to capture the appearance of this Buddha's Halo on film is indeed a near-miracle.

Seeing things: A 'Buddha Halo' appears after rain on Huang Mountain in Huangshan, Anhui province of China today

How it works: The phenomenon is formed by the diffuse reflection and diffraction of sunlight irradiating the clouds' surfaces. In other words, it is just a bright rainbow after the rain

A Buddha is depicted with a halo

The phenomenon appeared over the Huang Mountain in Huangshan, Anhui province of China after rain today.

Buddha is often depicted with a halo around his head.

The rainbow is a natural phenomenon of atmospheric optics. It is formed by the diffuse reflection and diffraction of sunlight irradiating the surface of the cloud.

That is, it is an extra-bright rainbow after rain.

The colours of the rainbow can be seen in this halo, but Buddha's Halos can also be white.

The halo, a ring of light surrounding a person, is used in religious iconography to depict the holiness or sacredness of the figure.

It is widely used in Buddhism, appearing in relics dating back to the first century.

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