Lower part of a Nagaraja (serpent-king)

India, state of Uttar Pradesh, Mathura Kushan dynasty, 1st-2nd century CE
Sikri sandstone
Purchase F1969.3

The thick coils behind this figure's legs identify him as a serpent-king. Believed to dwell within splendid kingdoms below lakes and rivers, serpent-kings were absorbed into the Hindu and Buddhist religions as semidivine protectors and devotees. The nagaraja probably stood on a low base outside the gates of a Buddhist stupa (reliquary mound) or monastery. Its coils emphasize the robust monumentality typical of sculpture from Mathura, the southern Kushan stronghold in the Gangetic plains. In the northern region of the Kushan dynasty (mid-first to third century CE), a different style, exemplified by the Buddhist reliefs on the adjacent wall, emerged simultaneously.