Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Platform panel (ayaka) or courtyard enclosure
India, Phanigiri, Suryapet district, Telangana
Not on view
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.
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