Item: Arhat/Sthavira (Buddhist Elder)

Four Arhats: in the middle and slightly above is Bakula holding a mongoose with the two hands. Pindola Bharadvaja holds a book. Kanaka Bharadvaja has a beard and places the hands in meditation. Pantaka holds a book in the right hand and performs a mudra of explication with the left. This composition is from a five painting set depicting Shakyamuni Buddha, two principal students and the Sixteen Arhats, along with the two attendants Dharmatala and Hvashang and Four Guardian Kings.

Along the top are eight of the Thirty-five Buddhas of Confession. At the bottom right is the attendant Dharmatala and at the left side is Vaishravana, Direction King of the North, holding a victory banner and a mongoose at the left.

Jeff Watt 5-2000