The banner reproduced on the right (Ch. xx. 008) on a scale almost full size belongs to a well-defined series of banners, all of the same style and workmanship, illustrating scenes from the story of Gautama Buddha.[27] The scenes are all simple in design and divided from each other by low hill ranges. Their number in our banner is only three, as shown also by the three cartouches, all left blank.
The top scene shows King Śuddhodana seated on the verandah of his palace and giving instructions to the mounted messenger to be dispatched in search of Prince Gautama after his flight from the palace. The figure, short and squat, of the messenger is characteristic of the whole series; that of the horse, compact and heavy in build, suggests a type like that of the present Mongol pony. In the next scene we see the messenger engaged on his quest, carrying a red pennon and galloping to the left. The rapid movement of the horse, here bay with red spots and white mane and tail, is effectively rendered.
The scene below represents the messenger returning and reporting to the king the futility of his search. Śuddhodana is seen as before seated on the palace verandah while two musicians outside beguile him with flute and pipe. Further down in the foreground are shown an enclosure, containing a lotus tank and a bamboo tree, and outside its entrance a small hexagonal structure with an oblong yellow object within. Higher up kneels a white-coated man playing on clappers. The significance of the objects in the foreground is not clear. The drawing, though rough, shows vigour, and the general effect is bold and in the more active scenes full of character.
On the left of this banner is reproduced, on half-scale, what remains of the left-hand portion of an interesting but unfortunately much-damaged large painting on silk (Ch. 0059). The colour of the original is remarkably strong and the subject unusual. It represented, when complete, the figure of Śākyamuni standing erect in the grotto of the Vulture Peak (Gṛdhrakūṭa), famous in the story of the Buddha, and by his side Jātaka scenes of a type not met with elsewhere among our paintings and so far unidentified. Though only the right shoulder and arm of the Buddha figure survive, there can be no doubt about its iconographic character. The rocks, dark blue and brown, which appear piled behind and above, with the vulture perched on the top, would render this quite certain.
The identification is fully confirmed by the pose of the Buddha. The arm hanging stiffly downwards at full length and slightly away from the body, with fingers also stretched straight down, is seen again in the central Buddha of the great embroidery picture of Plate [xxxiv] and in the figure undoubtedly representing Śākyamuni on Gṛdhrakūṭa, which the painting shown in Plate [xiv] reproduces among other Indian statues of Buddha. The representation in the embroidery picture is recalled also by the deep yellow colour of the flesh in our painting as well as by the shape and certain details in the canopy. The elongated vesica, cobalt blue in its border, and the light green and vermilion nimbus are both edged with flames and cloud scrolls in vermilion and dark blue. More true to nature than the vulture on the top is the flight of wild geese and ducks shown above.
A disciple with shaven head, probably Śāriputra, stands by the side of Śākyamuni and turns towards him. He shows an unconventional type of features drawn with much vigour. The head is long and high at the back, with well-defined ‘corners’ there and over the forehead. The large nose, bushy eyebrows, and long pointed chin give a strongly marked character to the head. It is set off by a circular halo of brilliant vermilion. The costume, too, is peculiar; it consists of an under-robe of vermilion and light green, black shoes upturned at the toes, and a large mantle of mottled dark green, blue, and red, which covers both shoulders and arms.
The legendary scenes which appear on the side of the painting are preserved in a very fragmentary condition and still await interpretation. But that they are connected with a statue representing Śākyamuni on the Vulture Peak seems clear. In the background of the top scene there appears a statue of a Buddha in the same pose as the central figure, with the right arm stretched down stiffly. To the left, in front of a building (temple?), stands a shaven priest, pointing out the statue with his raised arm to passers-by below. In the foreground is seen a man in brown coat and top boots riding a mule with its legs hidden behind hilly ground. Behind him a white elephant, with a load of yellow objects, but rider or driver no longer visible, proceeds in the same direction to the left. On that side appear the roughly drawn figures of two men with black beards and shocks of black hair.
The next scene below is even more puzzling. In the middle are seen a pair of colossal hands rising from the ground and enclosing a human head in red. To the right four conical objects, suggesting tents and striped horizontally, form a row; a large vermilion pennon is shown above one of them. Behind them a man on a dark grey horse is seen riding rapidly. His right arm is raised as if to strike, and two mounted attendants follow him. The foreground to the left shows on a green slope a row of unexplained leaf-shaped objects, and above this two semi-naked figures incomplete.
Very curious is the bottom scene. The God of Thunder appears above on a cloud within a ring of drums which he beats in violent movement. In the centre, before a background of rocks, is shown a large Buddha statue within a scaffolding of vermilion poles. That the statue represents Śākyamuni on Gṛdhrakūṭa is made certain by the downstretched right arm and also by the characteristic pose of the left hand, which gathers up the drapery in an ‘ear’ at the breast, just as the figure in Plates [xiv] and [xxxiv] shows it. On either side of the scaffolding is perched a man, busy with his hands at the statue’s head and steadying himself with one foot at its shoulder. At the back of a building on the left a man seems to give instructions to the workers, while at the foot of the statue there squats a small figure with arms and legs outspread like the Thunder-god’s. The latter’s figure in fury is shown again by a small detached fragment below.
For a conjectural explanation of the scaffolding, which might be connected with some miraculous translation of a sacred statue, reference to Serindia must suffice here.[28] But whatever the legend represented in our side scenes may prove to be, we cannot fail to note the striking contrast between the stiff hieratic image and the life and vigour in the rest of the picture.