Last Existence: Māyā's Dream

A relief depicting Māyā’s dream. Māyā, the queen consort of Śuddhodana, dreams of a white elephant entering her womb through her right side. As soon as she wakes up, she finds out to be pregnant. The scene was encased between two framed pilasters of the Gandharan-Corinthian type with a long flute, of which only the left one remains. The base is plain. A rectangular section tenon is carved on the proper right side of the lower face. The back face shows vertical marks of chisel. Māyā is sleeping on her left side on a bed. The hair is straight with a fringe, a knot, and a coil. She is naked with a mantle only. She wears pendant earrings, a long necklace, a body chain, and a pair of wristlets with raised edge. The bed features turned legs, a drape falling on the front and is decorated with a plain horizontal wavy band. A legged footstool and a chamber pot are carved on the ground. Above Māyā, a small elephant was flying down, of which only the outline remains. Four female figures are standing in the background, the two on the right being attendants, and the two on the left guardians. They are all depicted in bust. The two attendants are turning towards the flying elephant; the two guardians are towards Māyā and are holding a lobed shield and a spear, respectively. The four figures have a straight fringe with a coil and a knot – the head of the figure on the extreme right is not preserved – and wear a long tunic with a bodice, a rolled girdle, and a long necklace with multiple strands.