The Beginnings of Buddhist Art and Other Essays in Indian and Central-Asian Archaeology c9.229

c9.229

At the bottom there issues from an arched gateway of a palace or a town an equipage, of which only the heads of the two horses and of the occupant are to be seen: it is probably the same two-wheeled chariot with four horses that comes out in full view on the left. A king has taken his place in it, accompanied by three attendants holding respectively a parasol, a fly-flapper, and the reins. The manes of the horses are plaited and adorned with tufts, and the precaution has been taken of attaching their long tails to what might be mistaken for a trace. In front run two men on foot, and two horsemen, seen from behind. If they are supposed to be making the *pradakshiṇā* of the edifice which occupies the greater part of the panel, it would then be the head and not the tail of the procession which would be represented by two persons on the right, mounted on elephants, and having *aṅkuśas* in their hands.