Eastern Indian School of Mediaeval Sculpture c7.86.2

c7.86.2

In the oldest schools of Indian sculpture, before the adoption of Greek methods, the illumination of the Buddha was represented by an empty stone seat (*vajrāsana*) under a tree (*bodhi-druma*), over which was an umbrella indicating the presence of the Master, as we find in the case of the medallion on the railing at Bodh Gaya.¹ In the Indo-Greek school of Gāndhāra, specimens of the representation of this incident are profuse and the details much varied. Almost all incidents of the Master's life, both before and after the illumination, have been utilised by the artists of this school in their decorative schemes of Buddhist shrines. So we see the homage of the Nāga Kāliya,² the meeting with the grass dealer,³ the preparations for the illumination⁴ and finally the illumination itself. The last named incident is divided into two or three parts:—(1) The temptation of the Bodhisattva by Māra's daughters, (2) the attack on the Bodhisattva by the followers of Māra and (3) the call on the Earth-goddess to stand witness.