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Drum panel depicting a stupa with the Buddha’s descent from Trayastrimsa Heaven

late 3rd century CE
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 235
This panel depicts a grandly decorated stupa with the Buddha at its entrance, his hand raised to grant protection. The scene represents his descent, at the conclusion of the rainy season, from Trayastrimsa Heaven—the heaven of the Thirty-Three Gods presided over by Indra. The Buddha descended a golden ladder to the jubilation of devotees, seen here kneeling. This panel, likely once brilliantly polychromed, belongs to a small group of narrative reliefs that provide the greatest source of visual evidence of the appearance of these structures in the third and fourth centuries.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Drum panel depicting a stupa with the Buddha’s descent from Trayastrimsa Heaven
  • Period: Ikshvaku
  • Date: late 3rd century CE
  • Culture: India, Nagarjunakonda Stupa Site 6, Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh
  • Medium: Limestone
  • Dimensions: H. 48 in. (121.9 cm); W. 29 3/4 in. (75.6 cm); D. 6 3/4 in. (17.1 cm)
  • Classification: Sculpture
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1928
  • Object Number: 28.31
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art

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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
India, Nagarjunakonda, Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh
first half 3rd century CE
Buddha, Limestone, India, Andhra Pradesh
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India, Andhra Pradesh
3rd century CE
Dharma-wheel pilaster (dharmacakrastambha), Limestone, Andhra Pradesh, possibly Ghantasala, Krishna district
Dharma-wheel pilaster (dharmacakrastambha)
Andhra Pradesh, possibly Ghantasala, Krishna district
ca. early 3rd century CE
The Conversion and Ordination of Nanda, Limestone, India (Andhra Pradesh, Goli)
The Conversion and Ordination of Nanda
India (Andhra Pradesh, Goli)
3rd century
Naga attendant holding a fly whisk, Limestone, India, probably Goli, Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh
Naga attendant holding a fly whisk
India, probably Goli, Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh
ca. 3rd century CE

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