The Buddhist Art of Gandhara: The Story of the Early School, its Birth, Growth and Decline c16.5

c16.5

With fig. 114 we return to the main current of Gandhāra art. This small upright panel (urdhvapatta) of unknown provenance is now in the Lahore Museum. The main subject, illustrated in the lowest register, is Gautama's Flight from the City. In the centre, unhappily much mutilated, the Bodhisattva is shown de face riding out of Kapilavastu, on his horse Kaṇṭhaka, and beside him, on his left, is the lithe and elegant figure of his groom Chandaka, holding the royal umbrella over his master's head. On the Bodhisattva's right is Māra, the Evil One, who tried in vain to deflect the future Buddha from his purpose by offering him the sovereignty of the world. The identity of the other figures is less certain but the much defaced female on the extreme right is probably the city-goddess of Kapilavastu lamenting over the Bodhisattva’s departure, while the princely figure next to her may well be Indra.