Last Existence: Visit of the Ascetics

Fragment of a relief probably depicting the Visit of the Ascetics. The Brahman teacher Bāvari sends his sixteen brahmin students to the Buddha to answer questions about the goal of his teachings and how to attain the same. Each of the sixteen ascetics pays the Buddha a visit in Śrāvastī and astounded by his teachings, they eventually convert to Buddhism. The Buddha is standing frontal on the left. His left hand is in abhayamudrā, the right is holding an edge of the overrobe. The outline of a plain nimbus is discernible. On the right, an elderly ascetic is standing in a three-quarter view towards him. The left hand originally held a kamaṇḍalu, the right is raised and open up. On the extreme right are the remains of a third figure