The Buddha lives among the clouds above Indra’s palace on the peak of Mt. Sumeru. The future Buddha tells the gods he has decided to be reborn on earth. Around his waist there is wrapped a cord that supports his right knee. This is a convention used in Borobudur to denote people of high status. In honor of his upcoming birth, a few gods go to earth to teach brahmans. The Buddha teaches the “Introduction of the Law” to the gods, and gives his crown to a bodhisattva named Maitreya, who is his successor-designate. The Buddha then asks the gods what form he should take in his mother’s womb. Some recommend the figure of a human, but others tell him that in the brahmans’ books, the Buddha is described as an elephant with six tusks, brightly shining, with head red that oozes with sap. Queen Maya