Last Existence: Buddha's Death; male figures

Part of a relief with two superimposed registers, the lower one showing the Buddha's death, the upper male figures. The registers are separated by a row of rosettes within filletted lozenges and half-rosettes in the resulting triangles. The base is plain, the cornice is decorated with a row of acanthus leaves, possibly vertical and separate with plain leaves behind. The back face shows horizontal marks of chisel. The lower register depicts the Buddha's death. Despite being ill after receiving food offerings, the Buddha continues to travel to Kapilavastu until he is forced to stop at Kuśīnagara in a śala forest. Here he announces to his retinue that he will soon pass away. He delivers his last prescriptions to Ānanda and ordains his last convert, Subhadra. He then enters his final meditation and dies, achieving his final nirvāṇa. Gods, princes and monks gather to mourn the deceased Buddha. Mahākāśyapa arrives seven days later to pay his last homage. The Buddha is lying on his right side over a bed featuring turned legs and a drape. His left hand rests on the side. The saṃghāti has rounded neckline, the drapery folds are rendered in a dense pattern of curving lines. Subhadrā is sitting back-turned in padmāsana on the ground before the bed. Four figures are carved in the background. On the right, Mahākāśyapa is caressing the Buddha’s feet. He is dressed in the antaravāsaka leaving the right shoulder exposed and in the saṃghāti. A male head with a turban emerges above him from the rear surface. Another monk is standing behind the bed, with the right hand on the cheek. A third monk is raising his hands in a gesture of mourning. The upper register preserves three male figures standing frontal and the outline of a fourth one. The first figure is holding an indistinct object in the right hand, the left is resting on the hip. He is dressed in a long garment and a mantle. The second figure, too, was probably holding an object in the right hand, the left is raised up. He wears a long garment and a mantle. The third figure is similar to the previous one, but his head is turning towards his left.