Hongfo Pagoda: Tejaprabha Buddha

CHINA, Ningxia, Yinchuan; Western Xia period

This painting, discovered in the Hongfo Pagoda Heavenly Palace, depicts Tejaprabha Buddha sitting on a lotus throne supported by a Sumeru platform. Tejaprabha wears a red monastic robe and has a nimbus, a mandorla, and an aureole. Surrounding the Sumeru throne are figures representing the Eleven Luminaries: the seven classical planets, Rahu, Ketu, and the Moon’s perigee and apogee. The figure representing the sun wears a crown decorated with a sun disc, while the personification of the moon wears a crown with a moon disc and carries a white rabbit. Eight circles above the main figure represent the Twelve Zodiac Signs, but the images are indistinct. The Twenty-Eight Mansions are symbolized by groups of seven figures on four clouds, barely visible above the head of Tejaprabha.