A PASSAGE TO INDIA: 253. DAZU GROTTOES

It's estimated that the carvings cover the period from the 9th to the 12th centuries...various groups of people worked on it...

They cover 5 locations along a cliff face and a valley. What's significant is, the rock-hewn sculptures and carvings depict Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism - its various groups of people who worked on the sites expressing their beliefs and teachings.

There's this rich diversity of subject matter, secular and religious and they do shed light on everyday life during that period in time.

Some are in rock-cut cave shrines, depicting Chinese Buddhist style, many are chiefly rock reliefs carved into open rock faces.

There are 75 protected sites containing some 50,000 statues with Chinese characters forming inscriptions and epigraphs.

I covered mainly the rock grotto found on Mt Baoding and Mr Beishan which are along the 'main road' so to speak. Several are in niches and shallow 'caves'...

The pleasant drive from Chongqing to Dazu takes about 1 1/2 hours. It's a UNESCO World Heritage site worthy of its anointment, the sculptures were not tampered with in a big way from what I can see, so they look raw, authentic. Restoration was necessary to maintain its integrity and public safety, as per UNESCO's guidelines...

Distribution of the Dazu rock carvings...

I made this trip to Chongqing was for these rock carvings in Dazu...it's a beautiful spot...

There was more than one carving of the 1000-armed manifestation of the Bodhisattva Guanyin, surrounded by various devas. Devas are celestial dieties or divine entities...

a close-up

I marvel at the detailed work done by hand no doubt, using hammers, chisels, the way I've marveled at the work done in India on their temples, caves, rock walls...the artisans learned these as young apprentices to master craftspersons.

The Nanshan location is dedicated to Taoist themes

The wheel of samsara or karma - the cycle of life of birth, death, rebirth (reincarnation) that governs Creation...

Depicting filial piety to the feminine energy - the Mother figure...

9 dragons spewing water to bathe the new-born future buddha...is the story behind this carving...it's all art to me and the ingenuity and innate creativity of ancient peoples all over the world - from the ancient Egyptians to Indians to the ancient Chinese - none learned this from any University or Internet...