Relief with death of the Buddha
Medium:Carved grey schist
Geography: Gandhara, Pakistan
Date: 2nd - 3rd century AD
Period: Kushan Period
Dimensions:20.5 x 27.7 x 8.4 cm
Object number: 985.72.1
Gallery Location:Sir Christopher Ondaatje South Asian Gallery
DescriptionThis is one of a set of panels depicting life of the Buddha which originally decorated the base of a small stupa or column. Here the Buddha teaches his doctrine of the cessation of rebirth until the very end. With grieving monks and local nobles around his bed, he goes ever deeper into meditation and then dies, leaving the realm of human suffering forever. From Gandhara this posture of the Buddha at his death becomes the prototype for the scene throughout the rest of Asia.
