A small medallion depicting a seated Buddha carved on a dome slab from the Amaravati stupa, now preserved at the Archaeological Museum at Amaravati, is undoubtedly one of the most-discussed representations of the Buddha from the site. Since its first scholarly analysis by Susan Huntington in 1990, the image has been recognized not as showing the Buddha in a narrative scene but as a rare depiction of an image of the Buddha under veneration. Scholars thus have debated whether the relief presents a particular image venerated at one of the sacred Buddhist sites in early India or an image mentioned in one of the famous legends of the Buddha. By carefully studying this image of the Buddha on multiple visits to Amaravati and by examining other images of the Buddha from Amaravati and other Andhran Buddhist sites, I have reached a rather different understanding. As will be argued below, when the dome slab was made around the late first century BCE or early first century CE, the Buddha image was not part of the relief. It was most likely added during the late Iksvaku period or slightly later (c. late third-early fourth century CE). The image seems to have been added as an attempt to modify the meaning of the older sculpture in order to meet the changing interests and practice of the Buddhist community. The image also indicates the growing popularity of carving small sacred images on early relief panels for acquiring religious merit at Amaravati in the late Iksvaku period, when the patronage system to support the construction and embellishment of the stupa had already declined.
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Overview of the Image and Early Interpretations 183 Undiscussed Questions about the Panel and a New Interpretation 185 Embellishing the Stupa with Buddhas: Significance of the Buddha Image in Question 209 Conclusion 212 Appendix A 214 Appendix B 219
