Mathura: Life of the Buddha

INDIA, Uttar Pradesh, Mathura

Excavated at Rajghat, Mathura, the relief consists of five scenes from the Life of the Buddha arranged in roughly chronological order from the right with allied scenes taking place in the continuous band below. On the far right is Prince Siddhartha’s Birth in Lumbini, with two naga kings bathing the child immediately beneath. The second scene illustrates the Defeat of Mara, who challenges him on the left while demon soldiers attack from below. The third scene represents the Buddha’s Return from Trayastrimsa Heaven down the central stairway, escorted on either side by Brahma and Sakra. Beneath them, disciples and devotees welcome the Buddha back.
To the left of the central scene is the Buddha’s First Turning of the Dharma Wheel, which is depicted as happening under a tree in a scene almost duplicating the second. The Buddha is again seated on a raised throne although this time two monks sit below, listening with palms joined in reverence. On the far left is the Buddha’s Parinirvana. Here the central monk’s mourning position almost echoes that of the Buddha’s mother holding the branch of the asoka tree in the first scene. In the background, however, are the twin sala trees beneath which this scene takes place. The almost defaced figures of other disciples can be made out at the bottom.