This stele depicts the Buddha flanked by two bodhisattvas - Avalokiteshvara and Maitreya, who are both proportionately smaller and dressed in princely and bejewelled attire. A Bodhisattva is one who has achieved salvation but chooses to forgo entering nirvana out of compassion for the suffering of others.This composition of the three Buddhist figures represents the pagentry celebrating the revelation of the eternal Buddha who preached the Mahayana scripture, the Lotus Sutra. In this representation, Shakyamuni Buddha is dressed in flowing robes with stylised folds of drapery. A lotus-shaped nimbus radiates behind his head. This stele probably came from a niche in a cave temple.
