Buddha Life

In the Life of Buddha paintings, we can see the historic phases of the Siddhartha Gautama both before and after his enlightenment. The painting starts from the top and moves towards an anti-clockwise direction. The story starts from the top left and ends right at the center where he reaches the stage of Nirvana.

The Painting Describes 12 different phase of Buddha's life. They are:

1. His Promise to Take Birth in the Human Realm
2. Queen Maya Devi's  Dream
3. The Birth of Buddha
4. Accomplishment in Worldly Arts and Athletics
5. The Skilful Conduct of Worldly Affairs
6. The Four Encounters
7. The Renunciation of Worldly Life
8. The Six Years of Austerities
9. The Defeat of Mara
10. The Proclamation of the Teachings
11. The Descent from the Trayatrimsa Heaven
12. The Passages into Parinirvana