From the internet: The earlobes are elongated, partly to indicate the Buddha is all-hearing and partly as a reminder of the heavy earrings that weighed them down before Siddhartha renounced material things to seek enlightenment.

The original Buddha was from India. In that culture he is portrayed as slim. But, when Buddhism spread to Asia he was transformed into a bald, fat individual. There are several historical reasons for these changes. First, at the time Asia received this religion most were going through severe poverty, famine and drought. So it became a sign of wealth and prosperity to be overweight. Second, a shaved head was seen as a sign of holiness and wisdom. Monks throughout monasteries today in Asia still shave their heads for this purpose. His ears look like that because he is an old man, look around you, old men all over the world have long, hanging ears.

Agree with you Tiraj,I have seen one of the oldest statue of Buddha {5th or 6th century CE according to Wikipedia} in Mathura, in fact I have seen many of him here in India and also read about his physical appearance. I found that he was neither skinny nor fatty but had a average body.

When people who has no idea about history , culture or traditions of other nations start copying and pasting wrong information from the internet as answers this is what happens. The answers given below are misleading and are wrong. yes Chinese portrait Buddha as a fat , obese figure. That shows how much they are away from true Buddhism and reality. Buddha was not skinny either. During the harsh meditation period (Age 29-35) he was extremely skinny (Check the Gandharian statue of him: ) But after that he was normal. Secondly , he was born in to a tribe called lambhs karna (Long ears). In nepal , to this date there are descendants from that tribe who have long years (genetics). They might not be as long as what shown in statues. But nevertheless they are unusually long. His ears are long because of wearing ear rings ??? Ahhh Give me a break. ^0^ Shaved head is not a sign of holiness and wisdom. then all bald men should be holy and wise.(Are they ???) it is a sign of renunciation. Once you shave your hair , the trouble of maintaing it is gone as well as the attachement to it. oNe more trouble from your life is gone......