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Sand-Buried Ruins of Khotan : vol.1 |
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fully packed away in one of my mule-trunks, amidst cotton wool
and plenty of soft country paper I had provided myself with at
Khotan, the little statue accomplished its long journey to London
far better than I had expected.
At the foot of the principal base and leaning against it were
found five painted panels of wood, all oblong, but of varying
sizes. The largest measures 11 in. in length, with a height
of 5½ in., and has a thickness of about a quarter of an inch.
Owing to their position near the ground the wood of these panels
and also the thin layer of water-colour with which they are painted
has suffered much, evidently through damp. For the same reason
the removal of the crust of sand and siliceous matter which adheres
to the surface proved a very delicate task. But even the imperfect
cleaning I could attempt at the time sufficed to show that these
little paintings represent personages of Buddhist mythology or
scenes bearing on Buddhist worship and legends. On one of them
two figures, evidently meant for Bodhisattvas, can be seen seated on
lotus-flowers, with coloured vesica and halo behind them. In
another I could, notwithstanding the much-faded outlines, recognise
the quaint features of that popular figure of the Indian pantheon,
the elephant-headed god of learning, Ganesha. A third panel
exhibits the figure of a dancing-woman, drawn in full movement
and with remarkable freedom. From the head, which is thrown
back, there flows downwards a quantity of black tresses, while the
left hand holds the loop of a sash or veil poised in graceful curve
over the head.
These painted tablets, like all the others subsequently discovered
at the bases of sacred images in ruined temples of Dandan-Uiliq,
were undoubtedly still in the same position in which they had ori-
ginally been deposited as the votive offerings of pious worshippers.
And curiously enough, as if to show the care which must have
been taken by the last attendants of the little shrine to keep
the sacred objects clear of the invading dust and sand, I discovered
several ancient brooms both near the principal base and in other
parts of the cella (reproduced p. 378). They were about 16 in. long
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563
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573
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582
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