Veneration of the Bodhi Tree

This limestone relief from around 201-300 CE shows devotees worshipping the Bodhi Tree, the sacred fig tree under which Siddhartha Gautama achieved enlightenment and became the Buddha. The Buddha himself doesn't appear in the scene. In early Buddhist art, the Buddha was represented through symbols rather than human form: the Bodhi Tree, footprints, the dharma wheel, or a stupa. This aniconic tradition persisted until roughly the 1st century CE.

The relief comes from Nagarjunakonda in South India, a major Buddhist center during the Satavahana and Ikshvaku periods. The site represents one of three principal styles of ancient Indian Buddhist art, alongside Gandharan and Mathura traditions. The presence of kneeling devotees suggests that pilgrimage and worship at sites associated with the Buddha's life were important practices even before iconic images became standard. The piece is at the Art Institute of Chicago.