Sarnath: Life of the Buddha - Miracle at Sravasti

INDIA, Uttar Pradesh, Varanasi

The plaque represents the miracle of replication that the Buddha performed on the final day of the contest at Sravasti. Mahayana sources describe him as “radiating eighty-four thousand rays of light, one from each pore of his skin, which filled the sky. A lotus appeared on the tip of each ray, and on each lotus is a Buddha teaching the Dharma, accompanied by attendants.”
Sakyamuni is located at the bottom of the panel, with hands probably in the Dharmacakra (Dharma wheel) mudra. He sits on a large lotus accompanied by Bodhisattvas holding whisks. Proliferating over the rest of the surface are meandering lotus stalks. Each lotus bloom has a Buddha, either standing or sitting, with hands in a variety of mudras.