Presentation to the Gods (?)

The bas-relief is fragmentary. The scene is bordered on the left by an Indo-Corinthian column placed in a frame, supporting an entablature decorated with chevrons. Two musicians play their instruments in front of a caitya. The one on the left wears a dhotī, has long hair gathered in a bun and plays a piriform lute with the help of a plectrum. The one on the right, dressed in languṭi, is wearing a turban decorated with two tassels; he blows a kind of curved horn. The caitya is topped with a trapezoidal, almost pyramidal roof. In the foreground, the legs of a fallen man can be seen. Schlumberger proposed to see in this figure a fallen statue, referring to chapter VIII of the Lalitavistara, which relates the presentation of Siddhārtha to the Brahman gods (Foucaux, 1884: 117-120). During this episode, the text reports that the statues of the gods fell as soon as the future Buddha entered their temple. However, we do not know of any representations of this event that would allow a comparison. Moreover, we do not think that the musicians can be considered as apsaras, these celestial beings being most often dressed princely and appearing emerging in the skies. Finally, it seems that the figure on the ground is dressed in baggy trousers and boots in the Kushan fashion.

The schist reliefs discovered by Barthoux between 1926 and 1928 are mostly from the vicinity of the Great Stūpa K1 of Tapa-i Kafarihā, the south-western part of the main stūpa B12 of Bāgh Gaï (around B13) and the Great Stūpa TK140 of Tapa Kalān.

This type of caitya, depicted on the Sirkap double-headed eagle stūpa in Taxila, is known in Kashmir.