Aurangabad Cave 7: Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Rescuing People from the Eight Dangers

INDIA, Maharashtra, Aurangabad

This relief occupies the entire left wall of the entrance. The central figure is Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva and the small images symmetrically arranged on either side depict the Bodhisattva rescuing people from the eight dangers.
Avalokitesvara has a nimbus and wears a headdress with a small Buddha image in the center. The hair is piled high atop the head and descends down to the shoulders. The right hand forms the abhaya (fearlessness) mudra while the left hand clasps the long stem of a lotus flower. There are apsaras above the Bodhisattva, as well as two Buddhas whose hands form the vitarka (teaching) mudra.
The scenes on the left portray the Bodhisattva rescuing people from the dangers of fire, imprisonment, bandits, and flooding, while on the right are scenes of rescue from harm by lions, snakes, elephants, and yaksas. The scenes have a uniform layout: on the inside, the Bodhisattva appears flying to the rescue, and in the center is a couple kneeling with joined palms. On the outside are images of the dangers.
There is a strong contrast between the dynamism of the eight danger images and the quiescence of the central Bodhisattva.