Buddha on a Lion Throne
Ganhara, Takt-i-Bahi
2nd-3rd centries C.E.
Schist, H: 52 cm
MIK collection I.

The Gandharan school of art produced innumerable representations of the Buddha in a range of artistic styles.  This carved figure of the Buddha is one  of the most skilled.  It once belonged to one of the best known monasteries in the Gandharan region, the religious center at Takt-i-Bahi.  The Enlightened One sits in dhyanasana on a throne covered by a decorated blanket; on each side of the base of the throne is a lion.  The Buddha wears a typical monk’s robe consisting of an upper and lower garmet draped in numerous folds.  Both shoulders are covered.  His broken right arm once displayed the abhayamudra and the folds of his robe cover his left hand.  A large oval nimbus surrounds the Buddha’s calm face.  The urna on the forehead, the curled usnisa and the elongated earlobes are the distinguishing marks or the mahalaksana of the Buddha of a cakravartin.

This type of icon was usually placed in courtyards which housed not only the main stupa, but also several other votive stupas.

(R. Ghosh, In the Footsteps of the Buddha, pp. 151-52)