The Buddhist Art of Gandhara: The Story of the Early School, its Birth, Growth and Decline c15.34

c15.34

The other relief (fig. 107), which comes from the monastery of Giri at Taxila, is without parallel in the Gandhāra School. It depicts the visit of Indra to the Buddha in the Indraśaila cave. The panel is divided horizontally by a railing into two compartments. In the lower, the Buddha is seated in meditation inside the cave, his hands and feet hidden in the folds of his robe. Outside the cave, on the Buddha's left, stands Indra, recognizable by his tall hat; and opposite to him, on the Buddha's right, Brahmā. Both deities are haloed. As if to accentuate the wildness of the spot, two pigs appear among the rocks in front of the cave. In the upper compartment four *devas*, like wingless angels, are emptying baskets of flowers over the front of the cave, two swooping down headlong with lithe and graceful forms, the other two bending gently forward and filling the space between them. And note, in passing, how skilfully the flying ends of the *devas'* scarves are used to enhance the sense of rapid movement as well as to indicate, as they do in figs. 89, 90 and 106, that the figures are of celestial birth. The pretty but rather meaningless faces of the four *devas* are akin to those already noticed in figs. 87, 88, 92, 94, 95 and 99, but the rhythmic grouping of the celestial figures and the happy conception of their flowery tribute to the Buddha are unique in Gandhāra art. Indeed, the nearest counterpart to the wingless angels is to be found, according to M. Foucher, in the Portail Royal of Chartres Cathedral (A.D. 1145-50).