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| 0336 |
Ruins of Desert Cathay : vol.2 |
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colours of dress, halo, etc. (Fig. 200). My excavations
at sites of the Khotan region had familiarized me with this
style of decoration, which must have been common through-
out Buddhist Central Asia during T'ang times, and which
allowed even a very modest temple cella to boast of its
'Thousand Buddhas.' Elaborate and often very beautiful
floral ornament forms the borders of these great stencilled
wall surfaces and of the image alcoves. Within the latter
the walls are covered either with large figures of Bodhi-
sattvas and other saintly personages (Fig. 191), or else with
fine floral tracery, cloud scrolls and the like, as seen in Figs.
200, 201. The rich halos with flame bundles painted at
the back of the principal figures are here often a specially
striking decoration. The ceilings of the alcoves usually
show a divine group, such as the Buddha enthroned among
Arhats, cleverly painted in perspective (Fig. 161).
The centre of the side walls in these smaller shrines
is ordinarily occupied by a large fresco panel representing
a crowded scene from some Buddhist heaven. I have
already had occasion to refer to such scenes when discussing
the larger paintings on silk which often look like reduced
copies of such panels (Chap. LXVIII.). In the one repro-
duced in Fig. 202 we see a Buddha seated on his lotus
throne between somewhat smaller figures of Bodhisattvas
and saintly attendants. Pavilions containing other divine
figures and shaded by rich foliage are disposed at the sides
and behind as an architectural setting. In front of the
terrace occupied by the main group are shown three
platforms rising from a lotus tank and connected by
bridges.
On the middle one, curiously recalling the central
marble terrace always found in the artificial lakes of the old
Moghul gardens so familiar to me from Kashmir and the
Punjab, there is seen a dancing girl performing a spirited
dance on a tesselated pavement. Rows of divine musicians,
probably representing Kimnaris, play on either side on
various instruments. On the side platforms two Buddhas,
with bowls and plates of fruit set before them, seem to
take their share in enjoying the divine ballet. In a few
panels of this class I found also figures of Nagas and
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