Sarnath: Life of the Buddha

INDIA, Uttar Pradesh, Varanasi

The relief depicts the four principal events of the Buddha’s life in a chronological sequence starting from the bottom. The lowest register illustrates the birth of Prince Siddhartha, with Queen Maya on the right and the delivered child at the center. Other events from the prince’s childhood are depicted on the left. Prince Siddhartha sits unmoved in the second register as the hordes of Mara attack him while the daughters of Mara tempt him. The third register illustrates the first teaching. The Buddha sits with legs pendent, with the disciples at his feet and apsaras on either side. The distance left between the Buddha and the other figures in the second and third registers is different from the more traditional works in which all the available space is filled. The top register shows the Buddha passing into parinirvana as he lies on a bed surrounded by his disciples.