85. Erection of the stupa at Vokkana

Here again if the sculptor has followed the text, and this is the stupa for the monk's staff, we can at once discover a mistake; it was a woman to whom Mahakatyayana left his staff and there is no woman to be seen on the relief. The scene naturally resembles that of No. 83. Here too the stupa is in the middle of the relief and the monument is round with a centre-band of garlands; it is crowned by a pinnacle with an umbrella and stands with a lotus cushion on a pedestal with projections, from which on each side rises incense-smoke from a lotus ornewcnt. A brahman, as chief-worshipper, stands on the right with a flower in his hands in the gesture of sembah, while next and behind him three men are kneeling, one with an incenssory and fan, another with a bowl of wreaths and flowers; finally quite to the right some more men stand with a flowering branch and a dish of flowers, against a background of waving banners; on this side too is a decorative tree with an umbrella above it and garlands and bells hanging on it. On the left in front kneels a man in royal robes with a pot of incense in his left hand and a lotus with a long stalk in his right. Behind him sit and stand his servants and attendants with all the customary emblems of honor and sacrifice for the occasion, in the shape of flowers, dishes and a jug, in their hands. The oblong object in the hand of the front sitting one is not to be recognized. Among those who stand is onewhose headdress looks like that of a naga; the presence of such a being would seem strange when the text makes no mention thereof, but on the other hand, homage paid to a stupa by a naga is in itself nothing unusual. The headdress is not distinct enough to authorise a positive statement.