The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art preserves, exhibits, and interprets Asian arts to deepen public understanding of Asia, the US, and the world. In this guide we visit sacred sites in the life of Buddha depicted in panels that adorned a monumental stupa, or reliquary. Artists presented the climactic moment at each site, centering on Buddha or his mother. Devotees viewed the scenes as they walked clockwise around the mound with their right shoulders toward the enshrined relics.

The Birth of the Buddha - The Buddha was born in a grove outside Lumbini, Nepal. In this panel, the Hindu god Indra attends the Buddha's miraculous birth from his mother's side and proffers a swaddling cloth. Queen Maya grasps a tree in a traditional Indic pose. She has the garments and hair style of a Roman matron. Gandhara was a cosmopolitan crossroads where several artistic traditions came together.

The Enlightenment - After meditating for forty days beneath a pipal tree in Bodh Gaya, the Buddha approached the moment of omniscience. Evil demons, including two toppled soldiers beneath the Buddha's seat, have failed to distract him. Calmly lowering his right hand, the Buddha touches the earth goddess to witness his attainment of enlightenment. He is also depicted with the characteristic forehead mole (urna) and cranial bump (ushnisha) that symbolize his immense spiritual capacity.

The First Sermon at the Deer Park in Sarnath - Surrounded by ascetics and deities, the Buddha raises one hand in the gesture of reassurance as he offers his first teaching at Deer Park in Sarnath. The wheel and animals on his throne represent, respectively, his teachings and the sermon's location in a Deer Park. His fine, symmetrical features, wavy topknot, and naturalistically draped monk's robe were adopted from the vocabulary of Greco-Roman art.

Parinirvana - According to Buddhist traditions, the Buddha, at the age of eighty, lay down between two shala trees in Kushinagar and abandoned his physical body to enter the blissful state of nirvana. Only the first shala tree is visible here; the second was depicted on the now-missing right section. By depicting the Buddha lying on his side, artists clearly distinguished his liberation from the cycle of rebirth from an image of ordinary death.

Head of a Lion - Because the Buddha was born a prince of the Shakya (lion) clan, lions often appear on early Buddhist monuments. Although a fragment, this sensitively modeled head conveys noble strength. It was originally situated atop a gateway leading to the great stupa (reliquary mound) at Amaravati. Seen from below, the king of beasts would have indeed appeared a mighty protector of the Buddhist faith.

A Royal Couple Visits the Buddha - At the center of this panel, a thick flower garland adorns a wheel that is located above an empty flower-strewn throne. Together, these symbols represent the Buddha and his teachings. For centuries after the historical Buddha transcended the cycle of rebirth (samsara), artists refrained from depicting his human form. Instead, they portrayed the presence of the Buddha with thrones he had sat upon, trees he had meditated under, and paths he had walked.