The Beginnings of Buddhist Art and Other Essays in Indian and Central-Asian Archaeology c9.210

c9.210

Only the middle part of the panel seems to be consecrated to the Mahā-prātihārya. The teaching Buddha has his hair curled after the fashion of the later Indian schools. Under the side arches two other little magic Buddhas (one of which is broken), hovering on lotuses above the heads of the divine attendants, make one think prematurely of the Dhyāni-Buddhas. As for the two attendants, very much damaged, they are here, as also on the following plates, reduced to the rôle of garland-bearers. The state of the stone no longer allows us to decide whether the two kneeling persons who are embracing the lotus are the Nāga-rājas or human worshippers.