Platform Panel or Courtyard Enclosure in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, October 2023

Title: Platform panel (ayaka) or courtyard enclosure

Period: Ikshvaku

Date: 3rd–4th century CE

Culture: India, Phanigiri, Suryapet district, Telangana

Medium: Limestone

Dimensions: H. 24 in. (61 cm); W. 85 1/16 in. (216 cm); D. 4 5/16 in. (12 cm)

Classification: Sculpture

Credit Line: Lent by Department of Heritage, Telangana, Hyderabad

Object Number: TS.119

This magnificent frieze likely adorned an offering platform (ayaka) on the Great Stupa of Phanigiri monastery. It consists of seven narrative medallions separated by pilasters. Each episode comes from the Mandhata-avadana, a story about a virtuous king who becomes infatuated with his own powers and is cast down by the gods. The lower frieze depicts noble animals in motion: a buffalo, griffin, bull, hybrid creature, elephant, ram, lion, boar, and deer. The botanical motifs decorating the pilasters underscore the hybridity of Ikshvaku art of this time, combining Indian lotuses and Hellenistic acanthus leaves.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/761725