Mohammed Nari, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, 4th century C.E., light gray schist, 199 x 97 x 28 cm, Lahore Museum, g-155. Image courtesy of Asia Society, NY.
The magnificent sculpture known as the “vision of a buddha’s paradise” is the object of much debate: Which Buddha is depicted? Gandharan images often lack the context necessary to allow scholars to make such determinations. This image is located at the center of the Mohammed Nari stele (decorated pillar) and depicts a buddha in a preaching gesture seated on a gigantic lotus and surrounded by a number of figures that may represent followers, arhats, or bodhisattvas—or all three.
(FROM AWAKE IN THE WORLD)