Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Dome panel with scene of transporting Prince Siddartha's headdress to heaven
India, Nagarjunakonda, attributed to Stupa Site 3, Nalgonda district, Andhra Pradesh
Not on view
The celebration of the hair-turban relic, marking the moment Prince Siddhartha renounced worldly possessions, was a favored subject in Andhra Buddhist art. The scene mirrors the description in Ashvaghosa's second-century CE Sanskrit biography, Buddhacarita (Life of the Buddha, translated by Patrick Olivelle): “Unsheathing his sword, dark as a lotus petal, he cut his ornate headdress along with his hair, and threw it in the air, the cloth trailing behind—it seemed he was throwing a swan into a lake. As it was thrown up, heavenly beings caught it out of reverence so they may worship it; throngs of gods in heaven paid it homage.”
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