Yungang Grotto 11: Standing Buddha Niche
Stone
Yungang Grotto 11: Standing Buddha Niche
CHINA, Shanxi, Datong; Northern Wei dynasty
Situated in the center of the west wall, this long, rectangular, house-shaped niche has a corrugated tile roof and contains sculptures of seven standing Buddhas. It is shaped to imitate the wooden structures of the Central Plain region, and is representative of newer niche designs created after the Taihe period (477–499) reform during the Northern Wei dynasty.
The Buddhas within the niche stand barefoot, each forming the abhaya (fearlessness) mudra with the right hand and the karana (warding off evil) mudra with the left. Each figure has a high usnisa, curved eyebrows, and a slight smile on the lips. The Buddhas wear long monastic robes with wide sleeves. The wall behind the figures is decorated with a variety of small Buddha niches, Thousand Buddha motif, and pagoda images.
For more details, go to the Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Caves T-Z, page 1705.
Cite this article:
author = Hsingyun and Youheng and Johnson, Peter and Mankuang and Huntington, Susan and Edson, Gary and Neather, Robert,
booktitle = {Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Caves T-Z},
pages = 1705,
title = {{Yungang Grotto 11: Standing Buddha Niche}},
volume = 9,
year = {2016}}