DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.2371#0392
370 BUDDHIST CAVE-TEMPLES.
The side galleries have each four pillars in front, of a different
design, while the fronts of the galleries are carved with florid work
and musicians. In the five compartments of the back of each gallery
are as many Buddhas seated in the same attitude as the colossal one
in the shrine, and with his usual chauri-be&rers, the one on his
right hand usually holding also a lotus-bud. These side galleries
were perhaps an afterthought, for in that on the north side some of
the figures are quite unfinished.
The dwdrpdlas of the shrine are large figures, 13 to 14 feet high:
that on the left or north side is Padmapani, very plainly dressed,
with his robe fastened round the waist by a string; his headdress
is the jatd of plaited hair worn by ascetics; he has a small image
of Amitabha Buddha as a crest on the front of it, and holds a mala
or rosary in his right hand, and a lotus-stalk in his left. The
other (on the south side) perhaps Indra,—as is almost always the
case - has a very richly jewelled headdress, with a small dagoba on
the front of it, bracelets, armlets, a thick jewelled Brahmanical
cord or janvi, and a small bouquet of flowers in his right hand.
Both are attended by two pairs of flying gandharvas above, while
about midway up the wall are others with curly wigs, bearing
garlands. Between each dimvpdla and the door is a female
worshipper with a flower in her right hand.
The shrine contains a colossal Buddha seated on a throne borne
up at the corners by lions. His feet rest on a nearly circular
plinth; his hands are in the dharmachaJcra mudrd, and through the
palm of the left hand passes the corner of his robe. This attitude,
as well as a few others, are repeated scores of times, and is that o
the Teacher enumerating, like Socrates, the points of his argument
or lecture on his fingers. His head, always represented as cover*
writh small knobs as of short-cut curly or woolly hair, and witli a
pile of them on the top, is surrounded by the usual nimbus.
each side of it are gandharvas. At each end of his throne stand
attendant ctem-bearers, who are just the duplicates of the ward
outside. And on each side wall is a colossal standing figure °
Buddha. His right hand hangs down, and has the palm turn
out; the left is bent upwards, and holds a part of his robe.
the corners next to these are four worshipping figures, one a ° ^
the other. This cell is dark, but one of the least damaged of the sot
here. The nose of Buddha has been broken off, probably withm
last few years.
The side galleries have each four pillars in front, of a different
design, while the fronts of the galleries are carved with florid work
and musicians. In the five compartments of the back of each gallery
are as many Buddhas seated in the same attitude as the colossal one
in the shrine, and with his usual chauri-be&rers, the one on his
right hand usually holding also a lotus-bud. These side galleries
were perhaps an afterthought, for in that on the north side some of
the figures are quite unfinished.
The dwdrpdlas of the shrine are large figures, 13 to 14 feet high:
that on the left or north side is Padmapani, very plainly dressed,
with his robe fastened round the waist by a string; his headdress
is the jatd of plaited hair worn by ascetics; he has a small image
of Amitabha Buddha as a crest on the front of it, and holds a mala
or rosary in his right hand, and a lotus-stalk in his left. The
other (on the south side) perhaps Indra,—as is almost always the
case - has a very richly jewelled headdress, with a small dagoba on
the front of it, bracelets, armlets, a thick jewelled Brahmanical
cord or janvi, and a small bouquet of flowers in his right hand.
Both are attended by two pairs of flying gandharvas above, while
about midway up the wall are others with curly wigs, bearing
garlands. Between each dimvpdla and the door is a female
worshipper with a flower in her right hand.
The shrine contains a colossal Buddha seated on a throne borne
up at the corners by lions. His feet rest on a nearly circular
plinth; his hands are in the dharmachaJcra mudrd, and through the
palm of the left hand passes the corner of his robe. This attitude,
as well as a few others, are repeated scores of times, and is that o
the Teacher enumerating, like Socrates, the points of his argument
or lecture on his fingers. His head, always represented as cover*
writh small knobs as of short-cut curly or woolly hair, and witli a
pile of them on the top, is surrounded by the usual nimbus.
each side of it are gandharvas. At each end of his throne stand
attendant ctem-bearers, who are just the duplicates of the ward
outside. And on each side wall is a colossal standing figure °
Buddha. His right hand hangs down, and has the palm turn
out; the left is bent upwards, and holds a part of his robe.
the corners next to these are four worshipping figures, one a ° ^
the other. This cell is dark, but one of the least damaged of the sot
here. The nose of Buddha has been broken off, probably withm
last few years.