Metadata

Support
Stela carved with Buddha image in stone; h. 77.5 ×  w. 31.5 ×  d. 14 cm. The sculpture in high-relief, showing traces of polychromy, represents the Buddha Śākyamuni standing in a frontal pose, in front of a toraṇa gate. His right arm — now broken off — was raised to display the abhaya mudra. The end of his heavy monastic robe is passed over his left forearm and falls vertically.
Text
Middle Indo-Aryan, Southern Brāhmī script. Engraved on the base; h. 8 ×  w. 23.5 cm .
Date
Attributable to the period 200 - 350 CE on palaeographic grounds.
Origin
Ghantasala (?).
Provenance
Nothing is known with certainty about date and location of discovery of this sculptural stela. Identified at the Musée Guimet (acc. no. 17850) in February 2017.
Visual Documentation
Photo(s):
  • Amina Okada catalogue, cat.
    • Editors
    Arlo Griffiths and Vincent Tournier.
    Publication history
    First described and edited in a Japanese newspaper called Bukkyo times by Akira Sadakata, whose reading is cited in Tobu-Nara-Nagoya-NHK 1998: 46 . Re-edited here from our photographs and after autopsy of the stone.

    Edition

    (1) dha[ṁ]makatikaya parabudhay[ā]ya (2) °atevās[i]kāya ◊ cul[ā]ya paṭimā

    (1) dha[ṁ]makatikaya parabudhay[ā]ya
    (2) °atevās[i]kāya ◊ cul[ā]ya paṭimā 
    <ab xmlns="http://www.tei-c.org/ns/1.0">
                    <lb n="1"/>
                    <w xml:id="tok01-EIAD131">dha<unclear>ṁ</unclear>makatikaya</w>
                    <w xml:id="tok02-EIAD131">parabudhay<unclear>ā</unclear>ya</w>
                    <lb n="2"/>
                    <w xml:id="tok03-EIAD131">°atevās<unclear>i</unclear>kāya</w>
                    <space type="horizontal" quantity="1" unit="character"/>
                    <w xml:id="tok04-EIAD131">cul<unclear>ā</unclear>ya</w>
                    <w xml:id="tok05-EIAD131">paṭimā</w>
                </ab>

    Apparatus

    • (1) dha[ṁ]makatikaya dhamakatikaya .
    • (1) parabudhay[ā]ya parabudhayaya .
    • (2) °atevās[i]kāya °atevasikāya .
    • (2) cul[ā]ya culaya .
    • (2) paṭim[ā] patimā .

    Secondary bibliography