The Dīpaṁkara Jātaka.
- Gallery: Room 33
- Culture: Kushan
- Made in: Gandhara (historic - Pakistan)
- Date: 1stC-2ndC
- Object type: panel
- Materials: schist
- Museum number: 1980,0225.1
- Museum: The British Museum
- Collection record: British Museum website
- Image © The Trustees of the British Museum, shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence.
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About this object
Before you is "The Dīpaṁkara Jātaka," a panel carved in relief from schist. It captures two scenes from a Buddhist story, framed beneath a pointed arch. At the center, the Buddha stands in three-quarter view, his drapery marked with deep, overlapping grooves. Around him stand several long-haired ascetics, monks, and a young woman holding a lotus on the far right. A partially visible figure lies prostrate before the Buddha, believed to represent a devotee from the story.
The figures are carved with a consistent, linear style: narrow eyes, rounded faces, and sharply carved noses suggest a classical Gandhāra approach. The panel includes lotus motifs in the border, showing an enduring artistic influence in ancient India.
This piece hails from Gandhāra—modern-day Pakistan—and is thought to date to the first century AD. It reflects the early traditions of Buddhist narrative art, capturing moments from an important spiritual life story.
See it in person
The Dīpaṁkara Jātaka. is on display in Room 33 at the British Museum on Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, London — free to enter. Choose British Museum on audioguide.london and take a photo of it to hear this free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
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