Drum panel with scenes of the Great Departure and Temptation of the Buddha

India, Nagarjunakonda, Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 235

Of the many moments in the life of the historical Buddha told in the canonical biographies, two were especially favored for stupa decoration: the Great Departure and the Temptation. Both narratives are depicted on this drum panel from Nagarjunakonda. Each epitomizes the negation of desire, represented below by Prince Siddhartha’s renunciation of privilege to become an ascetic seeker of knowledge—the beginning of his spiritual journey—and above, by his resistance of the temptations offered by Mara, the force of darkness.

Drum panel with scenes of the Great Departure and Temptation of the Buddha, Limestone, India, Nagarjunakonda, Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh

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Drum panel with scenes of the Great Departure and Temptation of the Buddha, Limestone, India, Nagarjunakonda, Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh
Drum panel with scenes of the Great Departure and Temptation of the Buddha, Limestone, India, Nagarjunakonda, Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh
Drum panel with scenes of the Great Departure and Temptation of the Buddha, Limestone, India, Nagarjunakonda, Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh
Drum panel with scenes of the Great Departure and Temptation of the Buddha, Limestone, India, Nagarjunakonda, Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh
Drum panel with scenes of the Great Departure and Temptation of the Buddha, Limestone, India, Nagarjunakonda, Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh
Drum panel with scenes of the Great Departure and Temptation of the Buddha, Limestone, India, Nagarjunakonda, Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh

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