Jueyuan Temple Great Hero Hall: Life of the Buddha - Parinirvana

CHINA, Sichuan, Guangyuan; Ming dynasty

On the third panel on the west wall of Jueyuan Temple’s Great Hero Hall, there are two similar scenes from the Epilogue to the Mahaparinirvana Sutra and the Vajrapanibalin Mourning Sutra. In the first scene, the Buddha, wearing a red monastic robe, is shown lying on his right side, passing away into parinirvana. He is surrounded by mourning disciples who cover their mouths with the sleeves of their robes as they sob in grief. A lion sits in front of the Buddha’s bed. On the left side of the picture, a Vajrapanibalin covers his face and falls backwards. There is a dagger lying on the ground next to him.
In the second scene, a group of figures surround the golden casket of the Buddha. Two Vajrapanibalin in the bottom corners cut their legs with daggers to express their grief. The cartouche on the right states that the mural was sponsored by Zhang Zhong, a devotee who donated one tael of silver.