Relief Panel; sandstone; Bodh Gaya, Bihar; 10th-11th century.

A vertical rectangular panel consisting of six tiers of niches containing seated Buddhas in meditation surrounding a large central tri-partite cusped niche. This niche contains a seated Buddha in meditation flanked by two standing slim attendant figures, possibly bodhisattvas, with their right hands raised in abhaya mudra. The seated Buddha is crowned with a crown comprised of triangular points rising from a beaded headband. He also wears a kantha: a flat jewelled necklace. He is holding a bowl in his upturned hands, which may represent the bowl of madhu (honey) given him by the monkey at Vaishali. Two further smaller figures are carved in mirror image in the tribanga position standing on simplified lotus buds with their inner hands raised and the outer ones holding an object. They both have ushnishas on top of their heads. The decoration of the spandrels is completed with two furled vegetal leaf buds curving towards the apex of the niche. The edges of the lateral sides have a bead pattern carved along them.

Purchased from Mrs Mary Charles

Purchased from Mrs Mary Charles, daughter of A.H.Giles, who made a collection which included this sculpture and ten more pieces (IS.238 to 248-1950) when he was Superintendent of Police in Gaya District at the time when General Cunningham was making his Bodh Gaya excavations in the 1870s. In a letter, a copy of which is filed in the V&A Nominal File of Mrs Mary Charles, Mr Giles describes how he obtained his 'Buddhist images' from 'the old temple of Bodh-Gaya and the ruins of another temple in the same district, viz Gaya, near Patna, Bengal'. All 11 pieces were bought for £75.

C Bautze-Picron states that vertical rectangular slabs were intended to be inserted in 'large stupas such as those standing around the temple of Bodhgaya, many, unfortunately, today with empty niches'. 'The Offering of the madhu at Vaishali' was one of the four scenes from Buddha's life along with the Enlightenment, the First Sermon and the Great Miracle. Bautze-Picron lists eight other examples of this image with the same overall format.

Probably Bodh Gaya, Bihar, Eastern India.

IS.240-1950