Drum Panel with the Veneration of Buddhapada and an Empty Throne in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, August 2023

Title: Drum panel with veneration of the buddhapada and empty throne

Period: Early Satavahana

Date: ca. 100 BCE

Culture: India, Amaravati Great Stupa, Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh

Medium: Limestone

Dimensions: H. 39 in. (99 cm); W. 29 1/8 in. (15 cm); D. 5 7/8 in. (15 cm)

Classification: Sculpture

Credit Line: Lent by Archaeological Museum ASI, Amaravati, Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh

Object Number: TS.148

Reverence for the Buddha’s teachings is poignantly expressed in this early drum panel from the Great Stupa at Amaravati. The objects of veneration—the Buddha’s empty throne and his footprints, marked with the Dharma-wheel—are rendered simply, ensuring a clarity of message: the Buddha is present. Worshipping couples offer salutations along with gifts, perfume, flower petals, and a garland. The enclosure railing beneath their feet suggests this scene of veneration is set at a stupa shrine, viewed from the gateway entrance. Aquatic foliage, including lotus bud and blooms, waterfowl, and a makara are all carved in shallow relief in the meandering frieze at the base of the panel.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/761977