Tuokuzisalai Hall B: Jataka of Bodhisattva Staying Still for Birds

CHINA, Xinjiang, Kashgar

The Jataka tale illustrated is recorded in the Mahaprajnaparamita Sastra and describes an account of the Buddha in his previous lifetime as a Bodhisattva on whose head a bird landed and laid its eggs while he was meditating. He remained motionless, out of compassion until the eggs had hatched and the birds flew away. The Bodhisattva is located in the center of the mural with the birds nested in his topknot. Framing peacocks’ plumes are on both sides, and above him are two apsaras guarding the birds.
The Bodhisattva’s stole is roughly modeled and his features and hair are the same as those of the apsaras accompanying him. Behind him and the other two figures are stoles that wind about their arms. The six-petaled floral ornaments on their arms have the same pattern as the stoles, although of different sizes. The work is another example of which standardized elements are adapted to suit the different situations depicted on the monastery walls.