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Vaisravana (毗沙門天) surrounded by warriors, Niche 65, the southern cliff (南岩), Yuanjue Cave (圓覺洞)

From the Ground Up: Buddhism & East Asian Religions (FROGBEAR Project)

Niche 65 is located in the southern cliff (南岩) of Yuanjue Cave Cliff Sculpture Scenic Area (圓覺洞摩崖造像風景區), Yujishan (雲居山), situated in the northeast of Anyue County (安岳縣), Ziyang City (資陽巿), Sichuan. The southern cliff contains fifty-eight niches (Niches 15 to 72) of rock carvings, mostly dating from the Tang Dynasty 唐 (618-907) to the Five Dynasties 五代 (907-960). The central wall depicts nine figures. The middle one is Vaisravana (Pishamentian 毗沙門天; Sanskrit: Vaiśravaṇa), wearing a tall crown decorated with cloud motifs and armour on his torso, sitting in a European posture on a rectangular throne with two demon figures holding his feet. There is likely another demon betten his feet, but the figure is lost. The right hand of Vaisravana should be holding a pagoda; however, the image is damaged. On either side of Vaisravana, three standing figures are depicted. The inner pair are warriors with bare feet. The left holds a trident while the right carries a sword in his right hand. The middle pair are dressed in official’s attire with crowns adorned with lotus motifs. They cup one hand in the other before their chests. The outer pair are warriors as well. The warrior on the left holds a T-shaped object before its body, while the warrior on the right is severely eroded. The upper part of the central wall contains words carved by visitors in later periods. Descriptions of the photos: Overview of the niche [Image 01]. Close-up of the right side of the niche [Image 02]. Close-up of the niche [Image 03]. Close-up of the left side of the niche [Image 04]. Photos taken from the right angle [Image 05, Image 06, Image 07]. Metadata created by: Sau Ling Wendy Yu.

Anyue Xian (China); Sichuan Sheng (China); 30.11723; 105.3504

chi

Cluster 3.4: Typologies of Text-Image Relations

Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library

10.14288/1.0438604

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