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Relief with a Buddha

This stone relief, presumably carved in Nepal but coming from Tibet, may depict Dîpankara, the first of the twentyfour Buddhas of the past, surrounded by a following of believers. As such, he also appears in the triad of Buddhas of the Three Times, of which Shâkyamuni and Maitreya, the present and future Buddha respectively, are also part. Hagiographic tradition has it that Dîpankara, like the historical Buddha Shâkyamuni, had a miraculous birth and a princely childhood, to which he renounced in order to devote himself to ascetic research, which culminated in reaching Enlightenment. One of his hagiographies narrates that a scholar expert on Vedas offered him five lotus flowers, like those visible on the base of the throne on which he sits in this relief, begging him to return as a Buddha in one of his future existences. Dîpankara promised to do so, announcing that he would appear as Shâkyamuni in the town of Kapilavastu (1). Interestingly, a Buddha seated on a throne decorated with five lotus flowers is portrayed in a stele from an area of Gandhara in present- day Pakistan (2). In the relief illustrated here Dîpankara is represented in the gesture of fearlessness (abhaya-mudrâ) (see no. 3) surrounded by a crowd of figures – monks, devotees, children and musicians – intent on bringing him gifts and offerings, and celebrating his presence. The musicians are playing some of the typical instruments of traditional Nepalese music, amongst which the national instrument called a “madal”, a double leather drum with a wooden or clay box. The ”madal” may be held vertically or, more commonly as indeed here, horizontally and worn around the neck with a strip of leather or a cord. The relief was perhaps part of a frieze on the wall of a religious building or perhaps the lid of a casket meant to hold a precious religious text or object. Its style may be related to the latter part of the “transitional” period or to the early Malla period. (1) Lokesh Chandra, Dictionary of Buddhist Iconography, Inter- national Academy of Indian Culture and Aditya Prakashan, Delhi 2002, vol. 4, p. 1002. (2) Cf. Susan L. Huntington - John C. Huntington, The Art of Ancient India, Weatherhill, Boston - London 2001, p.120, fig. 7.11.

ALC (Free Circulation)