Toling Monastery Central Hall Inner Shrine: Life of the Buddha

CHINA, Tibet, Ngari; Guge Kingdom

This mural is painted in the lower register of the south wall in the inner shrine of the central hall. The mural, depicting scenes from the Life of the Buddha, is badly damaged, but several scenes can still be recognized. These surviving scenes include the Birth of Prince Siddhartha, Seven Steps at Birth, Reflections on the Farming Process, Skills Contest, Advice from Heavenly Beings, the Four Encounters, the Great Departure, Sujata Offering Milk Rice, Enlightenment, and Return to Kapilavastu. Some of the images are labelled with Tibetan inscriptions.
In the Birth of Prince Siddhartha, the elegant Queen Maya, with an unusually narrow waist, wears a tight upper garment. She stands with her legs crossed and reaches up with her right hand to grasp a branch of a beautifully painted asoka tree. Her sister Mahaprajapati stands on the right, holding the left arm of the Queen. The red Prince Siddhartha emerges from Queen Maya’s right side. Brahma and Sakra are depicted on the right, holding out their hands to receive the newborn.