Last Existence: Birth Cycle

Part of a frieze showing two separated scenes – that on the right not fully preserved – from the Birth Cycle. The scenes are separated by a framed semi-column of the Gandharan-Corinthian type. The base is plain, the cornice consists of two superimposed plain fillets. A vertical, rectangular socket is carved on the proper right part of the top face. The back shows vertical tool marks. The scene on the right originally depicted the Departure from Kapilavastu. Māyā leaves Kapilavastu to give birth at her parents’, but birth time comes on the way at the Lumbinī Grove. Only a rider is preserved. The figure and the animal are shown back turned. The rider possibly wears a tunic with a girdle. The horse features a plain breeching. The scene on the left represents the Buddha’s birth. In the Lumbinī Park, Māyā gives birth to Siddhārtha holding the branches of a śāla tree. The infant Siddhārtha emerges from her right side. Gods and supernatural beings witness the event. Māyā is standing frontal in śālabhañjikā position with the head turned to her right. She is grasping a branch of a śala tree – not carved – and wrapping the left arm around the back of the female attendant on the right. She wears a sāṛī, earrings, and anklets of the basic type. On the right, Indra is about to receive the infant Siddhārtha in a cloth. The god wears a paridhāna, an uttarīya, a skull-cap (?) turban, and earrings. On the left, a female attendant is resting her left hand on Māyā’s leg. She is dressed in sāṛī and is crowned with a large wreath. Next is a male figure, probably Brahmā, with joined hands. He has hair gathered up in a knot and wears a paridhāna and an uttarīya. A tree with upwards branches is carved on the extreme left of the scene.