Life of the Buddha - Eight Great Events

MYANMAR

This carving depicts the Eight Great Events of the Buddha’s life. The niched figure in the center sits on a double lotus throne beneath the Bodhi tree with his right hand in bhumisparsa (earth-touching) mudra. Underneath the throne, two Earth Goddesses bear witnesses to his attainments. This represents his triumph over Mara, whose troops swarm downward on either side of the Buddha’s head.
Moving upwards from the lower left of the composition, the scenes depicted are: the birth of Prince Siddhartha, with Queen Maya grasping the asoka tree with her right hand while her sister supports her; the first turning of the Dharma wheel, with the seated Buddha making the Dharmacakra (Dharma wheel) mudra; taming the drunken elephant, which is being driven from behind at the lower right corner of the scene.
Descending from the top on the other side is a Buddha under a parasol, representing his return from Trayastrimsa Heaven, attended by Brahma and Sakra; then the miracle at Sravasti, with the Buddha in the same position as on the opposite side; and finally the monkey’s offering of honey. The Buddha is passing into parinirvana between two sala trees with a stupa borne aloft above him at the apex of the mandorla on which these scenes are depicted.