Buddha in Tavatimsa Heaven

The Tavatimsa is the second of the six Buddhist heavens and stands at the top of Mount Meru; Sakka is its king. The Buddha spent three months there preaching the Abhidhamma to his mother. He is depicted at the top of the bronze sitting on King Sakka's throne in the Sudhamma meeting hall. He also preached from the foot of the Paricchatta tree, which is one of the characteristic features of the Tavatimsa Heaven, distinguishing it from other heavens. A flower from the tree is shown to the right of the building in which the Buddha is seated. A stupa containing relics of the Buddha can be seen behind the building to the right. In front, a ladder, which was said to have been made of jewels, leads down to earth at Sankassa (the modern town of Sankissa). A shrine was erected at the spot where the Buddha's right foot touched the earth and is probably represented here by the building at the bottom. The pyramid-shaped buildings at each corner are likely to correspond to the four earthly continents.