Swat: Life of the Buddha - Baby Prince’s Arrival at the Palace

PAKISTAN, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Swat

This Gandharan relief depicts the scene in which Queen Maya returns to the palace in Kapilavastu after Prince Siddhartha’s birth. The queen sits in the center of the palanquin in the carving flanked by ladies-in-waiting. All three women wear topknots and shoulder-length hair as well as earrings and necklaces. A cloth decorated with a central lotus surrounded by foliage covers the front of the palanquin. Its roof has a beaded pattern around the edge and is supported by Corinthian-style pillars. A woven pattern can also be seen at the back of the palanquin. Four porters carry the vehicle, although only the legs of two are visible at the back. The porters wear turbans and skirts, and are adorned with collars, bracelets and scarves, but go barefoot.