Nine Dragons Bathing the Prince – Baodingshan Rock Carvings, Dazu

Further to the previous post about the Dazu Rock Carvings, here are a few more photos showing the spectacular colours and details at the Baodingshan site.

This one was my personal favourite as the sculptors incorporated the landscape into the design. The overhang above the reclining Buddha collects water, which is channelled into this design.

Nine Dragons Bathing the Prince – the nine dragons created springs to bath Prince Sakyamuni

The Nine Dragon statue can be seen here, to the right of the reclining Buddha. The previous Dazu post contains more details of the statues surrounding the Buddha, but this gives a much better representation of the size.

The reclining Buddha is 31m long and fills the top of the horseshoe shaped valley

Anicca holding the Buddhist Wheel of Life – the wheel displays six incarnations of all the living creatures, indicating Buddhist karma and retribution

On the right in the photo below you can see one of the weird hippo-looking creatures. I can’t find out what they’re supposed to be.

Part of the Niche of Parental Love Sutra, showing Sakyamunis Filial Piety

Detail of a smaller carving by the entrance

The first coloured carvings at Dazu

Most of the tortures below seem to be carried out by cow/horse headed people, who represent court marshals. They would take judged people from the court, and carry out their judgement.

Niche of the Netherworld. The lower part is a graphic depiction of hell, including Knife-mountain and Knee-chopping

Dazu Visitor Tips

For details and visitor tips, read this previous post about the Dazu Rock Carvings

An additional tip would be to find a guide or guidebook – there are so many carvings and too few inscriptions, so it’s not always clear what you’re looking at. Like the hippos.

Hopefully related posts:

Baodingshan Rock Carvings – Dazu A slice of rural life in Sichuan Province – Dazu Dafo, the Leshan Giant Buddha – Sichuan Province Sea Dragons at Monterey Bay Aquarium