{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O481984"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O481984/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2017JV6473/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2017JV6473/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2017JV6473","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AH0936","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O481984/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O481984","accessionNumber":"IS.299B-1951","objectType":"Casket","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"The Buddhist Mahaparinibbana Suttanta or Book of the Great Decease describes how after the Buddha's death, which probably occurred in about 405 BC, he was cremated and his remains distributed among eight worthy recipients (such as the king of Magadha, an important kingdom in the region, the brahmin of Vethadipa and ruling groups or clans of nearby city states) for veneration. Over these portions and two other items claimed by others after the main distribution (embers of the fire and the vessel in which the bones were collected) each recipient was to erect a sacred cairn or stupa over its portion. The practice of worshipping relics became an important element of Buddhist religious ritual. As well as the bodily remains of the Buddha himself the relics of famous Buddhist teachers and disciples of the Buddha came to be worshipped, and the practice also came to include other objects such as sacred books. Precious items such as coins and beads have also been found, perhaps because of an association with an important person. The relics were often kept in small containers made of steatite, rock crystal or gold and could then be placed inside stone reliquaries. Stupas, initially hemispherical mounds but becoming more elaborate over time, were erected to cover a central relic chamber in which such items were housed. Pilgrims came to worship these stupas, circumambulating them in a clockwise direction.\r\nThis small gold relic box contained bone fragments and two small beads. It comes from the Buddhist monastery of Takht-i Bahi, which was one of the great monasteries in the Gandhara region sited on a major trade route linking the north to the Swat Valley and Western India. From around the late first or mid second century AD the region of Gandhara in northern Pakistan and part of Afghanistan became a Buddhist stronghold.","physicalDescription":"Small cylindrical reliquary gold box with lid. The lid is flat on the top surface except for a knob in the middle serving as a handle. This is in a shape roughly resembling a mushroom with a bobble on top, but could be intended to suggest a flower (presumably a lotus) or perhaps an honorary parasol. Contains bone fragments and a single bead. ","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":"Unknown"}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"Gold","id":"AAT11021"}],"techniques":[],"materialsAndTechniques":"Gold","categories":[],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"SSEA","id":"THES48598"},"images":["2017JV6473","2006AH0936"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"20","id":"THES49852"},"free":"","case":"CA1","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Casket","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Northwest Frontier","id":"x32936"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":"Takht-i Bahi, Mardan District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly North West Frontier Province), Pakistan"}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"2nd century-5th century","earliest":"0100-01-01","latest":"0499-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"2.9","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"2.3","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Ritual, gold leaf, Takht-i Bahi, Gandhara, Pakistan, 2nd-5th century","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"Gandharan Buddhist reliquaries / David Jongeward, Elizabeth Errington, Richard Salomon, Stefan Baums. Seattle: Early Buddhist Manuscripts Project, [2012], ©2012 Number: 9780295992365 (hardback), 0295992360 (hardback)","id":"AUTH332489"},"details":"Table 2, No. 291, pp. 280-1","free":""},{"reference":{"text":"Susan Stronge, Nima Smith, and J.C. Harle. <u>A Golden Treasury : Jewellery from the Indian Subcontinent</u> London : Victoria and Albert Museum in association with Mapin Publishing, Ahmedabad, 1988. ISBN: 0944142168","id":"AUTH325355"},"details":"page 19, catalogue number 15","free":""}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"RELIC CONTAINER\r\nGold, Takht-i Bahi, Pakistan, 2nd-5th Century\r\nThe Buddhist monastery of Takht-i Bahi was one of the great monasteries in the Gandhara region sited on a major trade route linking the north to the Swat Valley and Western India.","date":{"text":"1992","earliest":"1992-01-01","latest":"1992-12-31"}},{"text":"Reliquary in the form of a stupa\r\nAD 200–500\r\nAncient Gandhara\r\nTakhi-i-Bahi, Pakistan\r\nSchist\r\nStupas, based on the domed burial mounds of pre-Buddhist\r\nIndia, were used to contain the remains of Buddhist\r\nteachers. They also became associated with the Buddha’s\r\nfinal enlightenment, or parinirvana. This is a miniature\r\nreplica of the larger monumental stupas that were\r\nconstructed at all early Indian Buddhist monasteries.\r\nIt enclosed a small gold casket containing bone\r\nfragments and stone beads.\r\nMuseum no. IS.299-1951\r\n500–200","date":{"text":"1/4/2009","earliest":"2009-04-01","latest":"2009-04-01"}}],"partNumbers":["IS.299B-1951"],"accessionNumberNum":"299","accessionNumberPrefix":"IS","accessionYear":1951,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-08-15","recordCreationDate":"2009-06-25","availableToBook":false}}