It can be assumed that this relief fragment was originally part of a frieze dedicated to the life of Buddha. It was usual to find such scenes in the monasteries of Gandhāra. The latter were composed of two types of spaces: courtyards accessible to devotees and cluttered with all sorts of ex-voto monuments, such as burial mounds (stūpa) and chapels, and beyond that an enclosure reserved for monks only. In the public areas, the bases of the stūpa, the door and window surrounds, the plinths and sometimes even the risers of the stairs bore numerous reliefs, juxtaposing decorative motifs and apologetic narrative scenes, of which this relief can be assumed to be a part.
