Eight Great Events Stele

Eastern India (Bihar)

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 238

This stele depicts the sacred locations that mark the eight great events in the life of the historical Buddha. It is a visual expression of the Astamahapratiharya text, composed in the early Pala period, which extols the merits of pilgrimage to the Buddha’s principal sacred sites, shown here. The sites were understood to define the sacred geography of Buddhist India.

Eight Great Events Stele, Stone, Eastern India (Bihar)

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