Abandonment of the Princely Clothes

It is a fragment of a broken relief. Two scenes are separated by a pilaster decorated with a panel with curved edges. To the right of the pilaster is a figure dressed in Kušan style. On the left, two other figures can be seen. One is holding a part of his cloak or a shawl wide open, the other is making a gesture. It seems that he is taking off his turban, his clothes or his jewellery. If so, the scene could represent Siddhārtha handing over his jewellery to Chandaka following the Great Departure.

The episode of the Abandonment of the Princely Clothes is represented in particular on two reliefs discovered at Qunduz and Loriyan Tangaï (Foucher, 1918: fig. 184a) where the Bodhisattva sketches a similar gesture.