The Beginnings of Buddhist Art and Other Essays in Indian and Central-Asian Archaeology c9.199

c9.199

A teaching Buddha, seated on a raised lotus, is outlined against an oblong aureole and a round nimbus: above his head, a twisted garland hangs under a double streamer; under his right foot, which is sole upwards, a knot of stuff forms a round protuberance, which is also to be seen on plate XXV, 2, but which on the following plates is only a puffed out plait. The two Buddhas in the top corners, seated in meditation on inverted lotuses and under little *vihâras*, seem to form an integral part of the composition; perhaps the case is the same with the three others lodged under the two-storied arch of the gable; in any case, the group at the top recalls by its arrangement the other great aerial miracle, that of the Descent from Heaven.