Dunkar Cave 2

CHINA, Tibet, Ngari

Cave 2 of the first group in the first site is a south-facing cave that dates from the 11th century. Nimbuses and aureoles are painted on the back (north) wall, meant to back clay statues which are mostly damaged or no longer present. The pieces of broken statues are piled up on the shrines where the statues were originally placed. Based on the few partially preserved artworks, they are believed to have depicted the Seven Buddhas of the Past and Maitreya, the Buddha of the Future. A three-dimensional trapezoidal mandala with small clay tsatsas placed on each level is located in the middle of the cave.
On the ceiling, there is a mandala composed of five concentric rings of images. From the outermost edge, four rings of small deities surround a Bodhisattva with four heads and eight arms in the center. Murals are painted on the walls above and below the nimbuses and aureoles of the statues, including depictions of seated Bodhisattvas wearing five-pointed crowns. The figures are colored white, red, brown, blue, and beige. Their lotus thrones have alternating blue and brown petals. The blue color that fills the empty spaces on the walls gives the cave a mystical, peaceful atmosphere.