Last Existence: Conversion of Aṅgulimāla; Unidentified scene

Part of a frieze depicting two separate scenes from the Last Existence. The base consists of two projecting plain fillet, the cornice of a row of saw-teeth between a plain fillet below and a projecting plain band above. Both base and cornice continue on the sides of the panel. Two vertical rectangular sockets are carved on both sides of the bottom face. Two holes are pierced in the bottom face, one in the middle and the other adjacent to the front face positioned between the central hole and the side socket. The top and bottom faces show tool marks. On the back face there are parallel vertical flat chisel marks, and two large vertical sockets on the sides. The scene on the right depicts the conversion of Aṅgulimāla. A robber named Aṅgulimāla showed no mercy to any living creature, bringing terror to villages and towns. He took a finger from each of his victims to make a necklace for himself. The Buddha, while staying in Śrāvastī, heard of Aṅgulimāla’s mischief, met him and converted him into a righteous man. On the right there is Aṅgulimāla kneeling in front of the Buddha with joined hands. He wears a short tunic, and two locks of hair fall on the sides of his face. He has a moustache. In front of him, on the base of the relief, there are the sword and the string of fingers, a token of the atrocities he committed before he embraced the Buddhist teachings. The Buddha stands in profile with the palm of the right hand turned inwards at chest height. The left hand holds a hem of the samghati. He has a plain nimbus. To the left of the scene, we see Aṅgulimāla again, this time he is shown in profile while dancing with a barrel drum in the right hand, and drinking. He wears a short tunic of exomis type. Bangles and a headband with locks of hair falling on the side of the face. He also has a moustache. Behind Aṅgulimāla, a female attendant stands in three quarter view. She is holding a wine jug in her right hand and a cup in her left. She wears a long tunic, anklets, a short necklace, a cross-chest ornament, earrings, and a wreath on her head with a loop of hair falling on the back. The second scene of the relief depicts a scene with the Buddha preaching to seated attendants. The Buddha sits on a throne with decorated front under an umbrella shaped tree crown. He is surrounded by one monk and four figures who could be noblemen, bodhisattvas or deities. The Buddha is in padmāsana and probably raises his hand in abhayamudrā. He has a plain nimbus and a separate uṣṇīṣa on top of his head. To his right there is a monk seated on a lattice stool in meditative position. On both sides there are two turbaned figures seated on cylindrical lattice stools. They both wear uttarīya and paridhāna, earrings and a turban. The figure on the right has his right hand raised in a gesture of conversation. On top of the relief, emerging from the background on the sides of the foliage, there are two figures with turban and earrings, the one on the left holds a bowl in his hands. The two scenes are separated by a pilaster of the Gandharan-Corinthian type with modillion decorated with a row of saw-teeth and a buddha against the shaft. The buddha is sitting in dhyānamudrā and padmāsana over an open lotus with reverse petals. He is wrapped in the saṃghāti with covered hands and feet, and he has a plain nimbus. Similar pilasters are also placed at the corners of the relief, sculpted also on the sides; the same buddha is depicted against the shaft on the front sides. On the side of the pilaster on the left there is a bowing figure with joined hands standing on an open lotus with reverse petals. On the extant surface of this side there are two more superimposed figures separated by a plain fillet. On the bottom, a figure in profile with joined hands sits on a rolled mat/cushion. The figure on top is standing frontally with raised right hand. He wears a short tunic and a bangle. Both superimposed figures are incomplete due to the lack of space. The opposite corner pilaster bears on the side the depiction of a half-opened lotus.