Americans new to Buddhism usually soon inquire: Was the Buddha fat?
(Like this statue.)
![Attribution: By Hannah 50 (Own work by uploader - LOKE SENG HON) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons](http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:LAUGHING_BUDDHA_394.jpg "\"Laughing Buddha\" A gigantic statue of laughing Hotei, or (in Chinese folklore) Maitreya in Hat Yai Municipal Park, Thailand")
The answer is no.
The historic person known as Gotama Buddha ate only one meal a day, and he walked everywhere he went. How could he be fat? The early scriptures describe him as tall, lean and handsome — so handsome that some people were unable to pay attention to his teachings due to gazing at his physical beauty.
Where, then, did we get the ugly, fat laughing statue? The one that invites you to rub his belly for good luck?
Veneration of a fat laughing Chinese deity of ancient times, named Hotei or Budai, has gotten mixed together with the idea of the Buddha. An alternate tale of a similar obese Buddhist monk, named Phra Sangkajai, comes out of ancient Thailand. For a fascinating detailed look at the history of these images see this Wikipedia article.*
The Buddha did not show riotous laughter like these statues, but he remained quietly, serenely happy. By following his teachings, we can too.
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budai#Phra_Sangkajai_.2F_Phra_Sangkachai
Ayya Sudhamma Bhikkhuni, 15 April 2013
Good Dhamma Blog 
Venerable Sudhamma, I love your Blog and your Photo with the other Bhikkhunis. Much metta!
yeah there are many wrong mistakes about Buddha in the west.
Like as you mention about Laughing buddha.
Laughing Buddha is also considered as the incarnation of Maitreya Buddha especially in Chinese Buddhism.
Buddhist monks especially Chinese monks considered Laughing Buddha as the next future Buddha. The image you posted seems quite big.
Can you say how big is this statue?