Different art strokes for different folks

This is one of the murals on a Buddhist temple nearabouts and represents one of the episodes in Buddha's life, I gather. So far so good. What intrigues me is why the body's feet are poking out. I've seen it in other paintings and it couldn't be a mistake, anyway. I suppose I could find out, somehow, but the thing is that here - in the obvious place to ask - I can't imagine anyone who could or (more importantly) would tell me. As Westerners we are in the forced position of being regarded as demigods - with the emphasis on the 'demi-'. We, and our opinions, are regarded as both beneath consideration and almost directly coming from their masters, the Americans.













The brass pot/incense burner/container has the rat motif all over it and I think it's absolutely gorgeous, without knowing what it is, why it's got the rats on it or where it came from. It looks quite rough, in a way, and is certainly not that carefully crafted.