Relief depicting the Buddha’s descent from the Heaven of the Thirty-three gods
On display
The Buddha, flanked by the gods Brahma and Indra, descends the triple stairway from the Trayastrimsha heaven, where he had gone to preach to his mother Maya and the gods. The virtuous nun Utpalavarna kneels below.
Details
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Title
Relief depicting the Buddha’s descent from the Heaven of the Thirty-three gods
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Associated people
the Buddha (active c. 560 BC - c. 486 BC) (subject) -
Associated place
Gandhara (place of creation) -
Date
2nd - 3rd century AD (AD 101 - 300)
Kushan Period (AD 50 - 600) -
Material and technique
grey-brown schist, with traces of surface gilding
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Material index
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Technique index
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Object type
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Dimensions
15.8 x 27.7 x 5.7 cm max. (height x width x depth) -
No. of items
1
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Credit line
Purchased, 2000.
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Museum location
Ground floor | Gallery 12 | India to AD 600 -
Museum department
Eastern Art
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Accession no.
EA2000.35
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Further reading
Jongeward, David, Buddhist Art of Gandhara in the Ashmolean Museum (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 2019), no. 19 on p. 46-47
