The Collection
The American Wing Ancient Near Eastern Art Arms and Armor The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing Asian Art The Cloisters The Costume Institute Drawings and Prints Egyptian Art European Paintings European Sculpture and Decorative Arts Greek and Roman Art Islamic Art Robert Lehman Collection The Libraries Medieval Art Musical Instruments Photographs Antonio Ratti Textile Center Modern and Contemporary Art

Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.

Veneration of the flaming pillar

India, Nagarjunakonda, possibly Stupa Site 6, Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh

late 3rd century CE

Not on view

Pillar imagery in both Buddhist and Brahmanical traditions is understood to bridge the human and heavenly realms. According to the literature of early Buddhism, the Buddha miraculously raised a sacrificial post (yupa) so that monks could gaze upon it in wonder. Even in its incomplete state, this panel with jubilant fly-whisk-waving attendants, dwarfs (ganas), and celestial celebrants (vidyadharas) conveys a sense of ecstatic devotion. Here the divinely adorned post rises majestically, interrupted at regular intervals by a fruit-form disc (amalaka) with acanthus-leaf projections upon which the celestials dance.

Veneration of the flaming pillar, Limestone, India, Nagarjunakonda, possibly Stupa Site 6, Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh — Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Title: Veneration of the flaming pillar

Period: Ikshvaku

Date: late 3rd century CE

Culture: India, Nagarjunakonda, possibly Stupa Site 6, Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh

Medium: Limestone

Dimensions: H. 23 1/4 in. (59 cm); Est. W. 7 7/8 in. (20 cm); Est. D. 3 15/16 in. (10 cm)

Classification: Sculpture

Credit Line: Lent by Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund

Accession Number: TS.141

Rights and Reproduction: Courtesy of The Cleveland Museum of Art

The Met

Asian Art at The Met

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world.