The Great Departure

The scene is dominated by the central presence of Kanthaka, prince Siddhartha’s horse, duly harnessed but without a rider. The virtual presence of Siddhartha astride his mount is suggested – on the right – by a bearer of a parasol (chattra), an insignia of sovereignty and dignity and – in the upper part – by a fly whisk bearer (whose head is broken) and two worshippers, their hands joined in a gesture of homage. In front of the horse marches the prince’s equerry, Chandaka, dressed in the short pleated tunic of his profession. Four genies or yaksha, guards of gates and cities, complete the scene, upholding Kanthaka’s hooves so as to muffle the noise of his running and protect Prince Siddhartha’s flight. The latter, thus benefitting by the deities’ assistance, will cross unhindered the palace and the sleeping city, whose heavy gates will open as he passes through, moved by the breath of the deities.

We observe that the stupa facing plaques illustrating the Great Departure almost always adopt a disposition and orientation analogous to the Musée Guimet relief, the steed Kanthaka generally being featured in left profile and moving leftward. This orientation appears to be dictated by the Indian custom of the pradakshina, or the ritual circumambulation around the stupa (the sacred edifice preserving relics of Buddha) performed by the faithful in the solar sense and keeping the monument to the right. Thus the figured and ordered episodes consistent with the principle of the continuous narration, so dear to the sculptors of India, unfold in the same direction as the devotee’s proceeding, so the latter can perceive its logical or chronological sequence

Donation of the Society of the Friends of the Musée Guimet