Dome Panel Scene of Transporting Prince Siddharta's Headdress to Heaven in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, October 2023

Title: Dome panel with scene of transporting Prince Siddartha's headdress to heaven

Period: Ikshvaku

Date: late 3rd century CE

Culture: India, Nagarjunakonda, attributed to Stupa Site 3, Nalgonda district, Andhra Pradesh

Medium: Limestone

Dimensions: H. 24 in. (61 cm); W. 37 in. (94 cm); D. 5 7/8 in. (15 cm)

Classification: Sculpture

Credit Line: Lent by National Museum, New Delhi

Object Number: TS.135

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.”

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/761964