Qinglong Temple Middle Hall: Hariti

CHINA, Shanxi, Yuncheng; Yuan dynasty

This image is painted in the bottom register of the west wall in the middle hall. Hariti was a yaksa who had five hundred children. She would kidnap the children of others to feed her own. To teach her a lesson, the Buddha hid her young son beneath an alms bowl, causing her to become frantic with worry. When she went to the Buddha for help, he asked her to consider how the parents of the children she had stolen must feel. Realizing the suffering she was causing to others, Hariti converted to Buddhism and became the protector of mothers giving birth and young children.
Hariti is depicted as a heavenly being wearing a headdress and a wide-sleeved gown. She appears calm and graceful, holding her right hand horizontally in front of her chest while her left hand lightly grasps a stole. Four young children surround Hariti. One stands next to her on the left, tugging at her robe. A second child on the right looks up at a third who is seated on the shoulders of a yaksa. The fourth child is behind Hariti, standing on the hands of a yaksa and rubbing his eyes. White and yellow clouds are painted in the background.