The red sandstone stele from the Tang dynasty, formed out of two octagonal sections, is inscribed with a sutra. The based is adorned with a relief of four addorsed Buddhas seated in dhyanasana and wearing monastic robes with incised drapery folds. The upper section of the stele is engraved vertically all around in small regular script. One side of the inscription is a dedication by Yang Yanwhen, dated to the eleventh day of the seventh month in the fifth year of the Qianning period (898 AD, Tang dynasty). This is followed by the complete Chinese transcript of the (Sarvadurgatiparisodhana) Unisa Vijaya Dharani sutra, all arranged on each side in three columns below a row of eight Buddhas at the arpex, each carved in low relief, seated within a recessed tear-shaped niche.
Provenance : Collection Sakamoto Goro, Japan. Collected in the 1950s - 1960s