Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Railing pillar with naga Mucalinda protecting the buddhapada
India, Bharhut Great Stupa, Satna district, Madhya Pradesh
Not on view
This railing pillar from the Great Stupa at Bharhut depicts the moment when the snake king (nagaraja) Mucalinda sheltered the Buddha, who was in deep meditation in the sixth week after his awakening. To protect him from rising floodwaters, the nagaraja enveloped the Buddha in the coils of his body and extended his hooded canopy for shelter. The empty throne and pair of footprints (buddhapada) allude to the Buddha’s presence. Wheel symbols on the footprints are one of the auspicious marks of a cakravartin monarch who rules by Dharma alone, and also evoke the Buddha’s teachings. The donor named in the inscription is a woman from the city of Bena, likely in the Deccan.
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