Gaochang: Two-Headed Buddha

CHINA, Xinjiang, Turpan

This streamer for a banner, unearthed from the ancient city of Gaochang in Xinjiang, portrays two Buddhas with a shared nimbus standing together on a lotus pedestal. Based on the Great Tang Records on the Western Regions, there was once a poor man who worked as a laborer and managed to save enough to earn a gold coin. He wanted to make a Buddha image with gold coin, and so he went to a temple and sought a painter. He told the painter that he had resolved to make an image of the Buddha but due to poverty, it had took him a long time to earn this gold coin. Although the gold coin was not enough to cover the expenses for making the image, the painter was touched by the sincerity of the poor man and he accepted his request.
Not long after, another poor man approached him with the same request. The painter accepted a second gold coin, and together with an assistant, they made a huge painting of the Buddha. The two poor men came on the same day to worship the Buddha image they had both contributed money to paint. The painter showed them the painting and they both looked at the painter with suspicion. The painter assured them that he had spent the two gold coins entirely on the painting and nothing else. If that is true, the Buddha image will show a miracle.
Having said that, the image became two Buddhas with the same shadow, radiating with light. The two men were convinced by the honesty of the painter and the image became a Two-Headed Buddha.
In the painting, one Buddha stands partly behind the other, and they face away from each other. The Buddha on the left holds an alms bowl and gazes downwards. The Buddha on the right wears a striped monastic robe and appears to raise the right hand. There are faint images of seated Buddhas on the triangular headpiece. The Buddhas are drawn with fine strokes of black ink. A thin loop of string, meant to attach the streamer to the main banner, can be seen at the top of the headpiece.