39. Mandhatar honored as king(?)

As regards this scene too, I cannot accept the explanation given by Foucher, without qualification. He first relates how according to the text the "seven jewels" appear and continues "therefore we here see a disk, a gem, a horse, an elephant, a woman, a general and a minister represented near the prince now become king" . I do not see anything of this. There is of course a large company of men and some women on the scene but I cannot find the three above-mentioned distinctly represented or placed together. In the left corner there is a horse and an elephant quite in the way of decoration; just the same as we have seen these animals on No. 35. And what there is no sign at all of, are the most typical of the seven jewels, the disk and the gem. This defeats the only argument for identifying this scene as the coronation of Mandhatar and it seems wiser, considering the last relief as well, to state that the correct meaning remains uncertain.

A very large pavilion with a wing at each side and a centre-apartment with a roof resting on columns, takes up nearly the whole relief. Here sits the king, now wearing a halo) in a seat with a cushion at his back. He turns to a person kneeling before him in ceremonial robes, rather damaged,but who appears to be offering something. The otherfigures on this scene seem to be all attendants and servants. On the right, behind the king, are one standing and some seated female attendants; the first has a fly-whisk! the last one holds an oblong parcel. Quite in the right corner, in the wmg at the very edge of the relief, sits an armed guard. Behind the kneeling figure paying homage are seated a long row of persons, in the pavilion, the side-wing and outside up to the edge of the relief, many of them holding gifts of honor, dishes of flowers, a folded garment etc. The elephant behind with his mahout on his back and decorated with bells, and the horse have already been noticed; next to these we see an umbrella and a large burning torch that is sure to be of scented wood and not meant for giving light. This relief has suffered a good deal of wear and tear, but the meaning is clear on the whole: the offering of homage and gifts to a king, who is probably Mandhatar because of the halo.