Celebrants venerating the empty throne
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.This panel depicts worshippers alongside evocations of the Buddha’s presence: the empty throne from which a sacrificial post (yupa) rises, with the Buddha’s footprints beneath it. It was recovered in 1972 from the northern platform (ayaka) of Chandavaram Stupa 1, one of the best-preserved and largest great stupas of the Satavahana period. The monastery is located on a prominent hill overlooking the Gundlakamma River, in southern Andhra Pradesh, strategically situated on an ancient trade route that connected the networks of the western Deccan to the Bay of Bengal.
Artwork Details
- Title: Celebrants venerating the empty throne
- Period: Satavahana
- Date: late 1st–early 2nd century CE
- Culture: India, Chandavaram Stupa 1, Prakasam district, Andhra Pradesh
- Medium: Limestone
- Dimensions: H. 35 in. (88.9 cm); W. 42 1/2 in. (108 cm); D. 6 1/2 in. (16.5 cm)
- Classification: Sculpture
- Credit Line: Lent by National Museum, New Delhi
- Rights and Reproduction: Photo by Theirry Ollivier
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art