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Birth of Siddhārtha

Birth of Siddhārtha. Peshawar Museum, Pakistan.

The relief depicts the birth of Prince Siddhārtha. Queen Māyā stands at the center, grasping the branches of a śāla tree with her right hand, her feet crossed as she stands. A woman to her left steadies her body, while the Prince is born from her right side. Indra receives the newborn with a celestial cloth. On the right, two attendants hold a cornucopia and a water vessel respectively, while to Indra’s right stand one figure raising his right hand and holding a water vessel with the other hand.