Last Existence: Unpreserved scene, Marriage of the Bodhisattva

Fragment of a relief showing the remains of two scenes from the Buddha’s Last Existence separated by a framed half-column of the Gandharan-Corinthian type. The base is plain. A rectangular tenon is carved on the bottom face. The back face shows vertical tool marks. The scene on the right preserves only a male figure standing back-turned. He is dressed in a long dhotī with an uttarīya over the shoulders. The scene on the left depicts the Marriage of the Bodhisattva. Siddhārtha and princess Yaśodharā get married according to the Brahmanic tradition. In the centre of the figured field is the sacrificial fire, at each side of which is a jar. On the right is Siddhārtha, with nimbus and wearing a paridhāna, who is holding Yaśodharā’s hands, carved in the background, to lead her in the circumambulation of the fire place. On the extreme right, next to the dividing element, is a male figure standing in the left profile. On the left is a figure kneeling and pouring (probably clarified butter) into the fire.