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Stele with the Twin Shravasti Miracles

first half of the 8th century
Not on view
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.
This is a rare representation of a seminal event in the life of the Buddha: his enactment at Shravasti, in northern India, of magic to convert a group of nonbelievers. These miracles have sources in both the Pali canon of Theravada Buddhism and the Sanskrit canon. For his first miracle, the Buddha caused the seeds of a mango to flower instantly into a fruit-bearing tree; for the second, he caused multiple Buddha images to appear in the sky. Here these stories appear conflated, the radiating branches of the newly grown mango tree supporting the Buddha manifestations.

cat. no. 126

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Stele with the Twin Shravasti Miracles
  • Date: first half of the 8th century
  • Culture: Central Thailand
  • Medium: Sandstone
  • Dimensions: H. (excl. tenon) 50 13/16 in. (129 cm); W. est. 33 7/16 in. (85 cm); D. est. 7 7/8 in. (20 cm); Wt. 965 lbs (437.7 kg)
    Tenon: H. est. 5 7/8 in. (15 cm)
  • Classification: Sculpture
  • Credit Line: Lent by National Museum, Bangkok (DV3)
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art