Eastern Indian School of Mediaeval Sculpture c7.15.2

c7.15.2

For instance, in several sculptures the central place is occupied by a standing figure of Buddha or one seated in the attitude of turning the Wheel of the Law. In another specimen now in the Indian Museum (No. 3755)¹ we find Buddha seated in the dharma-chakra-mudrā in the same position and in a number of others again a standing figure of Buddha. The best specimen of this class is a large sculpture placed inside the north-western corner shrine on the second storey of the main temple at Mahābodhi or Bodh Gaya. At one time the Indian Museum contained a very large number of such specimens, but the majority of them have been presented by its Trustees as duplicates to other institutions. Thus the Rajshahi Museum has come to possess at least two of these unique images.² The only specimen now remaining in the Indian Museum is No. 3766.³ The Museum of the Baṅgīya Sāhitya Parishad can boast of one specimen only (C(c)1).⁴ The standing figures of Buddha represent, as we shall see later on, his descent accompanied by Indra and Brahmā, from the heaven of the thirty-three gods. In this class many specimens do not represent all of the eight incidents of the Master's life. The image in the small temple in the north-western corner of the second storey of the great temple at Bodh Gaya represents seven only, while No. 3766⁵ of the Indian Museum represents only five.