Scenes of Adoration

Part of a false-niche with scenes of adoration. There are large vertical chisel marks on the back, and a rectangular tenon on the bottom. The fragmentary central nave depicts a Bodhisattva seated in padmāsana and dhyanamudrā on a seat covered by decorated fabric. The decorative motif consists of a perimetric band with a row of square panels bisected into triangles, and a Lattice with intertwined oblique fillets in the field. The Bodhisattva wears a paridhāna, bracelets, his feet are exposed, and two hems of the garment fall in front of the seat. He was originally enclosed in an aedicula or canopy of which remains part of the left pillar. Besides this pillar stand two devotees in three quarter right profile, they both have their hands joined in a gesture of veneration. These male figures are cladded in paridhāna and uttarīya, they have bracelets at the wrists and a long necklace. The one on the left, whose face is better preserved, also wears large globular earrings and a turban. On top of him, there are remnants of the bust of another similar figure emerging from the background. The lateral nave consists of a multistorey aedicula. The three extant figured fields depict devotees standing in three quarte right profile with hands joined. The columns of the aedicula are of Gandharan-Corinthian type, and the two remaining architraves are decorated. The lower one bears a straight festoon of lanceolate leaves, the upper architrave depicts a row of upright ogival leaves. In the voluted semi-arch are depicted two scenes in as many registers. In the lower one are preserved the outlines of three devotees with joined hands, their gradient heights fill the figured field, the last one being on his knee. This scene is separated from the upper one by a fillet with a row of pearls. The upper scene depicts a devotee kneeling with joined hands in front of a small stūpa or a bowl under an umbrella.