Last Existence: Great Departure

Fragment of a false-niche probably representing the Great Departure. Prince Siddhārtha leaves the palace at night mounting his horse Kaṇṭhaka and accompanied by his loyal charioteer Chandaka. According to Buddhist literary accounts, spirits support the hooves of the horse to prevent noise and wake up Siddhārtha’s family. The lower band of the cornice is decorated with a row of dentils-and-bars with bars of same height and smaller width. The jamb and architrave are carved with a superposition of the following motives, from the exterior to the inner part: two plain listels; a row of simplified trifid calices, alternating vertical and reverse and separated by a contiguous wavy line; a plain listel; a row of overlapping leaves of pipal; a plain listel. In the figured field on the right, is the head of Siddhārtha with a moustache and half-closed eyes. He has a plain nimbus, an elaborate turban with horizontal bands and a crest (fantail), and earrings. The figure on the left is the nagaradevatā of Kapilavastu wearing a towered crown.