Children making a snow ball

Children's delight in newly fallen snow is universal. Here three ambitious Japanese boys are creating a yukidaruma, snow Bodhidharma. Bodhidharma was the Indian sage who traveled to China in the sixth century to spread his doctrine which stressed seated meditation as a means toward enlightenment. Since a large rounded snow mound resembles a seated monk with his robe covering his head and legs, such figures came to be called yukidaruma in Japan.