Last Existence: Princely Life

Part of a relief with two superimposed registers, the lower one showing two scenes from the Princely Life, the upper one being not preserved. The registers are separated by a projecting straight festoon with overlapping lanceolate leaves. The lower scenes are seprated by a framed half-column of the Gandharan-Corinthian type. The base is plain. The back face shows vertical tool marks. In the lower register, the scene on the right depicts the Marriage of the Bodhisattva. Siddhārtha and princess Yaśodharā get married according to the brahmanic tradition. Siddhārtha is standing frontal, his left hand is on the hip, the right is holding Yaśodharā’s hands to led her in the circumambulation of the sacrificial fire. He has a plain nimbus. The Bodhisattva is dressed in a paridhāna with girdle and an uttarīya, and wears a necklace. Yaśodharā is standing in right profile to the left, and turning towards Siddhārtha. She possibly wears a long tunic and a large wreath. The sacrificial fire is depicted between them. On the right, a female figure is standing frontal. Her right hand appears to be raised up. She is probably dressed in a long tunic. On the left, another female figure is standing in right profile. She originally held an object, now indistinct. The scene on the left depicts Siddhārtha in the ladies’ chambers. In an attempt to avoid that his son enters the religious life, king Śuddhodana surrounds Siddhārtha with luxury and pleasure, including beautiful women who entertain him with songs and dances. Siddhārtha is lying on a bed, his right hand is raised up. He wears a turban and earrings. A woman is sitting next to him on the left. She is bearing an indistinct object in both hands. The figure wears a large wreath. The upper register preserves two couples carved in bust. They were divided by an element now not discernible.