I hope I will be excused for saying that I wonder whether this is really from Amaravati; the condition seems extraordinary without a single even slight chip. Moreover, the surface, in the photo, looks rather much more like clay than stone. I may of course be wrong, but I'm suspicious of it even being old at all.

Jonathan Silk

On Fri, Jun 24, 2016 at 4:21 PM, Matthew Kapstein <mkapstei@uchicago.edu> wrote:

This is pure speculation, but I imagine it that it could be the scene of the enlightened
Buddha's receiving the honor of Kapilavastu when he returns to preach in his native land.
This is described, for instance, in AśvaghoSa's Saundarananda. But it may be another
similar theme of the Buddha being honored by lay devotees elsewhere.

Matthew Kapstein
Directeur d'études,
Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes

Numata Visiting Professor of Buddhist Studies,
The University of Chicago

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J. Silk
Leiden University

Leiden University Institute for Area Studies, LIAS

Matthias de Vrieshof 3, Room 0.05b

2311 BZ Leiden

The Netherlands

copies of my publications may be found at

http://www.buddhismandsocialjustice.com/silk_publications.html

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