Last Existence: Birth Cycle; male figures

Part of a figured frieze originally consisting of two superimposed registers. The lower one depicts three episodes of the Last Existence of the Buddha, the upper one figures in various attitudes. The dividing band is carved with a geometric motif that is not discernible. The scenes in the lower register are separated by encased semi-columns of the Gandharan-Corinthian type. There are vertical parallel chisel marks on the back. The right scene preserves only the remains of a male figure in profile. The central scene represents the Buddha's Birth. In the Lumbinī Park, Māyā gives birth to Siddhārtha holding the branches of a śāla tree. The infant Siddhārtha emerges from the right side. Gods and supernatural beings witness the event. The infant emerges from the right side of his mother Maya who is grasping a branch and wrapping her left arm around the female attendant to her left. The latter is turned towards Maya, her knees slightly bent, the left outstretched arm resting on Maya’s belly. Beside her, stands another woman in frontal position, head tilted to her right, holding a palm branch in her left hand and a container in her right arm. To the right of Maya, Indra bends forward to welcome Siddhartha in a swaddling cloth. Another male figure stands beside him. Only two standing figures remain of the scene on the left. One stretches its right arm while the other joins its hands in mukula-hāsta. The upper register is carved with a continuous frieze depicting a male figure, probably a nobleman, sitting on a coffer-type throne, his left hand resting on the knee, while the right hand is raised. To his right an attendant bends toward him. Proceeding to the left, a standing female figure holds a palm branch in her right hand while her left hand rests on the out-thrust hip. Next to her, a male(?) figure in frontal position, the body weight on the left leg, is leaning on an unidentified object. He wears a long tunic and holds a spear in his right hand. The last extant figure wears a short tunic. His upper body is turned toward the armed figure and his hands are raised, probably holding a large unidentified object.