page_title: Bimaran casket
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Bimaran casket / Description
context_page_description: The Bimaran casket or Bimaran reliquary is a small gold reliquary for Buddhist relics that was found inside the stupa no.2 at Bimaran, near Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan.
context_section_description: The casket is a small container reminiscent of the Pyxis of the Classical world. It was found without its lid. There is a lotus decorating the bottom.
  The casket features hellenistic representations of the Buddha (contrapposto pose, Greek himation, bundled hairstyle, wearing a moustache, realistic execution), surrounded by the Indian deities Brahma and Śakra, inside arched niches (called "homme arcade", or caitya) of Greco-Roman architecture. There are altogether eight figures in high-relief (two identical groups of Brahman-Buddha-Indra, and two devotees or Bodhisattvas in-between) and two rows of rubies from Badakhshan.
  Owing to their necklace, bracelets, and armbands, and halo, the two devotees are most probably representations of Bodhisattvas. They hold their hands together in a prayerful gesture of reverence, Añjali Mudrā.
  The casket is made in gold-repoussé and is very small, with a height of 7 cm (2 ³⁄₄ in). It is considered as a masterpiece of the Greco-Buddhist art of Gandhara.
caption: Detail of the Buddha, where the rare posture and light dress are visible.
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