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Fragment from a railing crossbar: nobleman riding an elephant

1st century BCE
Not on view
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.
The 1915 discovery of this and other railing fragments in Mathura confirmed the presence of a Buddhist monastery complex a short distance from the city center in the early centuries BCE. A richly bedecked elephant carries a ruler of one of the eight kingdoms that laid claim to a portion of the Buddha’s remains following his cremation. Given the absence of a reliquary from the scene, this may represent an earlier moment in the narrative, when the kings of the region traveled hastily to Kushinagar to secure their share of the relics; the texts report that one of the claimants arrived late.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Fragment from a railing crossbar: nobleman riding an elephant
  • Period: Shunga
  • Date: 1st century BCE
  • Culture: India, Mathura, Uttar Pradesh
  • Medium: Sandstone
  • Dimensions: H. 16 3/8 in. (41 cm); W. 27 15/16 in. (71 cm); D. 4 3/4 in. (12 cm)
  • Classification: Sculpture
  • Credit Line: Lent by National Museum, New Delhi
  • Rights and Reproduction: Photo by Theirry Ollivier
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art