Section from a Frieze with a Seated Buddha and Attendants

The Buddha was portrayed in human form for the first time during the Kushan period. The central image of this frieze, an element from a lost ensemble, shows him in a typical pose and format for the period, seated with attendants at his side holding fly whisks. They are flanked on the right by the Bodhisattva Maitreya, standing on a plinth holding a water bottle, and on the left by a crowned figure who may be the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara. These two bodhisattvas are also traditional attendants of the Buddha. Further to the right stand a group of men, women, and a child paying homage to a seated figure, who can be provisionally identified by the double vajra (thunderbolt scepter) in his right hand as the Bodhisattva Vajrapani, a deity also frequently associated with the Buddha. Another possibility is that this seated figure is the god Indra, who similarly attends the Buddha. The scene on the other side of the relief is more difficult to decode. Groups of worshippers, two holding fly whisks, flank a tree (?) and a large head emerging from the ground, both of which may refer to yakshas (earth spirits). The gesturing child at the center is also an enigma.