Tomb Figurine

The form and iconography of these stamped and fired clay tablets are associated with the Eastern Indian Buddhist iconography at Nalanda. Produced for religious pilgrims as souvenirs, these miniature terra-cottas often depicted isolated divine figures in high relief, as here, or narrative scenes of Bodhisattvas (enlightened beings) surrounded by devotees. They may have functioned as reminders of holy images on the great stupas.