Juyong Pass Cloud Platform: Four Heavenly Kings

CHINA, Beijing; Yuan dynasty

These reliefs are located on two of the walls facing the cardinal directions on what is actually the base of a gateway pagoda. They depict the four armored Heavenly Kings accompanied by weapon-wielding soldiers with features set in a ferocious scowls. Their prominent heads wear headdresses featuring Buddhas. The faces are fierce and their stoles flutter in the wind against a background of clouds. All four figures are in the warrior stance with one leg outstretched and the other bent. Apart from Dhrtarastra of the East, who has his booted foot on a maiden, the rest are balanced on the bodies of demons.
Each king holds a different attribute. Vaisravana of the North holds a banner and wears a breastplate decorated with two heads above a large engraved belt. Virudhaka of the South uses both hands to draw a sword. while Dhrtarastra plucks a pipa with a plectron. Virupaksa of the West restrains a snake that is wrapped about his arm. These reliefs are currently the earliest known depictions of the Heavenly Kings holding such items.