GANDHARA, 2ND/3RD CENTURY

At the time of Siddharta's birth, "five hundred servants were born, Chandaka formost, and five hundred horses, Kanthaka foremost". The fragment at right illustrates horses in the Royal stable with a mare suckling her foal, Kanthaka, which is to become Siddharta's favorite horse; for a related frieze, see H. Ingholt, Gandharan Art in Pakistan, 1957, cat. no. 19, p. 53; the fragment with the horse illustrates the 'Great Departure', when Siddhartha leaves the palace and the city of Kapilavastu on the back of Kanthaka, here in an unusual frontal view.