This paper has been written to find facts about the image of earth goddess broadly found in the Southeast Asia. The research findings are as follows: Firstly, the image of earth goddess wringing her hair is phenomenally discovered in both Buddhist temple murals and independent shrines in Thailand. This phenomenon is common in other Indochinese Buddhist countries such as Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia. Secondly, the life of Buddha including the story of the victory over Mara is found in such Buddhist canons as Mahavastu, Buddhacarita, Lalitavistara, Nidanakatha and Patamasambodhi. Among the canons, the story of the victory over Mara is described in differently ways. Earth becomes personified as the goddess in later version. The main cause to expel Mara`s army also changes from sound to water. Patamasambodhi is most closely associated with the iconography of the earth goddess of Southeast Asia. Thirdly, Vessantara Jataka and Indian ancient customs tell us that a merit maker performs a rite of pouring water on the earth as an evidence for merit-making. This rite is a key to understanding the meaning of the scene where the earth goddess expels Mara`s army into the flood by wringing her hair. The earth goddess is personified from the earth upon which the merit water is poured. Water soaked in her hair is the very holy water poured by the Buddha whenever he made a merit in his former lives. The amount of water flowed from the hair of the earth goddess representing the amount of his merit making was so huge and enough to defeat the Mara`s army and for the Buddha to reach the Enlightenment. This legend explains the significance of the notion of merit in the Theravada Buddhist countries such as Thailand and Myanmar where the water pouring rites still take place and the images of the hair wringing earth goddess are commonly discovered. Fourthly, the first image of the earth goddess as the witness of merits for the Buddha appeared in some Gandharan Buddhist sculptures in the form of devotional gesture with her both hands pressed together and the upper half of her body above the ground. The appearance is in accordance with the description of her in the Lalitavistara canon. In later periods, the form changed into various types and finally the image of the earth goddess wringing her hair appeared in Southeast Asia around 11 century C.E. Some researchers argue this image form of the earth goddess shows the influence from China or India. However, the arguments are considered to be hypothetical as they have no strong evidence to prove. Finally, the modern image of earth goddess shows richer and more dynamic expression compared with its predecessors. Especially, outstanding is the standing earth goddess images found in the scene of the victory over Mara in many temple murals of central region of Thailand. The earth goddess in her voluptuous body shape is usually depicted as wringing her hair with her arms wide open in a posture of S curve. This appearance strongly reminds us of the postures of Salabhanjika and Tribhanga originated from Indian art. The adoption presumably has been made to signify her fertile and affluent characteristics.