Drum Panel Scenes of the Great Departure and Temptation of the Buddha in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, October 2023

Title: Drum panel with scenes of the Great Departure and Temptation of the Buddha

Period: Ikshvaku period

Date: first half 3rd century CE

Culture: India, Nagarjunakonda, Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh

Medium: Limestone

Dimensions: H. 56 3/4 in. (144.2 cm); W. 36 1/4 in. (92.1 cm); D. 6 in. (15.2 cm); Wt. 854 lbs. (387.5 kg)

Classification: Sculpture

Credit Line: Fletcher Fund, 1928

Object Number: 28.105

Of the many moments in the life of the historical Buddha told in the canonical biographies, two were especially favored for stupa decoration: the Great Departure and the Temptation. Both narratives are depicted on this drum panel from Nagarjunakonda. Each epitomizes the negation of desire, represented below by Prince Siddhartha’s renunciation of privilege to become an ascetic seeker of knowledge—the beginning of his spiritual journey—and above, by his resistance of the temptations offered by Mara, the force of darkness.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/38239