National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books

PLATE XIII

PAINTINGS FROM BEZEKLIK

Bez. i. H, I

THESE three rows of seated devatás come from the projection at the end wall of the shrine. They look towards the right, where doubtless a figure of the teaching Buddha occupied the centre of the wall. They are in the usual pose of devout attention, with hands folded. The general colour scheme resembles

that of the groups in plate xi'.

The figure in the top row has black hair and a red halo bordered with grey and

yellow. Skirt and upavita (over the left shoulder) are red, and the stole green. In the

second row, the figure on the right has black hair and red halo with green border.

The upavita is green. The next has red-brown wig-like hair, plaited, and studded with

gold ornaments. The halo is green with red and yellow borders. Upavita and skirt

are red. On the arms are dark red bands supporting golden cloud-scroll palmettes.

The next has black hair and red halo bordered with grey and yellow. The upavita is

green; the stole dull pink and the skirt red. The left-hand figure in the lowest row

has the same colouring as the last, but with a thin white line between the red and

grey of the halo. The centre figure has red-brown hair and seems privileged to

wear elaborate ear ornaments consisting of gold rosettes covering the end of the

ear-lobe, two red beads below the rosette, and a large green one below these. The

tiara, with white taenia, has a gold palmette in the centre with two beads below

and, at the side, a red rosette with cabochon centre. The upavita is red. The last

figure is coloured like the one immediately above.

Bez. i. J, K

These three devatás, seated against a rich crimson-brown background, are from

the same wall as L, in plate xi', and are similar in their ornaments and drapery to

those of Bez. i. M, N in that plate. Of the first to the left, only part of the left side

remains. This devatá seems to turn towards the others, signalling, by the position of

the thumb against the first joint of the forefinger of the upraised left hand, informa-

tion of the progress of the discourse delivered by the Buddha who would have been

further to the left, in the centre of the wall of the recess. The second figure receives

and copies the signal with the right hand while the left hand, resting on the knee,

appears to anticipate, by registering a point on the third joint of the finger. The

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