Ascetic; male devotees

Fragment of a false niche, probably the proper right upper part of the nave and corresponding section of the architrave. The nave was possibly carved with The Gods entreat the Buddha to preach. In some accounts, the Buddha is reluctant to teach the dharma soon after attaining the Enlightenment. The gods Brahmā and Indra urge the Buddha to overcome his hesitation, persuading him to deliver his teachings. The architrave shows a row of devotees. In the surviving section of the nave figure field, an elderly ascetic was standing in right three-quarter view. His right hand is on the shoulder. He has a beard and straight, short hair with a small globular knot. He is dressed in a short tunic of the exomis type. The Buddha was sitting in the centre of the scene as shown by the remains of radiating branches, originally surrounding his nimbus. The architrave was carved with a row of male devotees, of which only three figures are preserved. They are all kneeling in right profile and joining their hands.